


DanganRWBY

by AmazingMewtwo_Writes



Category: Danganronpa, RWBY
Genre: Crossover, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2020-10-24 19:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 81,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20711573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazingMewtwo_Writes/pseuds/AmazingMewtwo_Writes
Summary: With only weeks away from the Vytal Festival, Ruby Rose has been training and is ready for anything....Except maybe being thrown into a killing game.A what-if scenario for if the RWBY cast were put into a Danganronpa style killing game, because why the heck not.There will be some pairings - I'll update the relationships tag when they come - and I do take some liberties with canon a bit, since I came up with the story before After the Fall and Volume 6 came out. Just to warn you now.And of course, there's gonna be a lot of blood and death.CURRENTLY ON - Chapter 3: A Grave Fit For Royalty (DAILY LIFE)(Currently sidelined due to need for rewrites, but does update on occasion)





	1. New Semester

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new game begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in the process of moving this fic from Tumblr to AO3, I'll probably add the rest of the chapters so far over the next few days. I'll let you know when I'm done moving this over!

Darkness.

Complete and total darkness.

That’s exactly what greeted Ruby Rose when she woke up.

Her head was throbbing, she was in a cold sweat and she had no idea where she was.

Ruby tried to stretch her arms out in order to figure out her environment, but hit a smooth wall on both sides.

_Am I dreaming? _She thought.

She tried to reach her right hand out again, only to hit the wall once more. After attempting to feel around the area, she found that she was walled off on all sides.

She was trapped.

Instinctively, Ruby began to bang on the wall to her front.

“Hello!?” She called out, trying to get someone to hear her. “Is anybody there!? I need to get out of thi-”

Before she could finish, one of her punches to the wall must’ve done the trick, as it suddenly swung open.

“Ah-!”

She tumbled to the floor, her head hitting the ground hard.

“Ow...” Ruby said quietly, rubbing her head a little as she slowly looked up. “Huh…?”

What she saw as her eyes adjusted to the light gave her more questions than answers.

She was in one of Beacon Academy’s lecture halls.

Usually, Ruby wouldn’t be surprised waking up inside a lecture hall. She does end up falling asleep during Professor Port’s long-winded stories (a head-chop with a book courtesy of Weiss waking her up more often than not), and since the Vytal Festival Tournament was in a matter of weeks, she had been prioritising training over going to bed early and had developed a habit of catching up her 8 hours in class.

The fact that she woke up inside of a locker, however, complicated things a lot.

“What am I doing here…?” Ruby thought out loud, looking around the classroom.

The seats were all empty, the antique drawings of different Grimm types had completely disappeared, the desk that should be at the centre of the room was missing, and any trace of the classroom being used for teaching was gone.

She started to get up, and in the silence she felt like she was being watched.

She looked around, and her suspicions were right. A spherical CCTV-style camera was mounted in the upper left corner of the room, and the lens was focusing on her directly. She shuddered just looking at it.

In the upper right corner of the room, she noticed a television-like screen with speakers connected to it mounted to the wall.

“What’s going on?”

It took a while for Ruby to notice that the locker she had just fallen out of wasn’t the only locker in the room.

There were two lockers in the lecture hall; the one Ruby woke up in was near the left of the room, while the one she had noticed was at the right.

Helping herself up to her feet, she slowly began to walk up to the second locker.

“Um...” She started, when she felt she was close enough. “Hello-?”

Almost as soon as she said that, the locker suddenly started shaking and banging.

“Ah-!” Ruby jumped back in surprise.

This continued for a few more seconds, until the door flew open and someone fell out onto the floor.

The boy who fell out had messy blonde hair, as well as white shoulder and chest plate armour with a grey trim over a black hoodie with red detached sleeves and brown wrist-length gloves with metal plates on the back. He had two belts criss-crossing his waist, a pair of dark blue jeans and a black pair of sneakers.

Ruby recognised him after a few seconds.

“...Jaune?”

He stopped at the mention of his name, and looked up towards the girl in front of him.

“Oh. Hey.” He said.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Ruby asked.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “I literally just woke up inside a locker. Of course I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Need me to help you up?”

He raised a finger as if to tell her to wait. “Hold on.”

He put that hand down and used it to quickly push himself onto his feet.

“There we go.” He continued, as he started to dust himself off.

Ruby blinked. “You seem...Awfully casual about this.”

“Oh, please.” Jaune looked awkwardly to the side. “This isn’t the first time Cardin’s shoved me in a locker.”

“I...Don’t think it was Cardin this time.”

“Huh?” He stopped and looked back at her again. “What do you mean?”

“Well...”

Ruby was about to try and explain why they could’ve ended up in those lockers, but she didn’t have a reason.

“Um...Uh...”

Jaune was giving her a sarcastic look. “You have no idea, don’t you?”

“All I know is that I don’t think it was Cardin.”

“Fair enough.”

“Well,” Ruby continued. “Bright side is, we’re in familiar territory.”

Jaune studied the environment skeptically. “How can you be sure about that?”

“Huh? But...We’re in Beacon, right?”

“True,” Jaune replied, gesturing around the empty classroom. “But isn’t the classroom a lot more lively than this?”

“Well, we ARE the only people here-”

“Not that. I mean that something feels...Off.”

“Off?”  
“Look around, Ruby.”

Ruby looked around the classroom, and instantly got what Jaune was implying.

She didn’t notice it at first, but the classroom seemed oddly bare. The maps, diagrams, drawings, anything that was used for teaching that would be on the wall wasn’t there. The ornate desk that should’ve been between the two of them was completely missing too.

And even though there were only two people in the room, it still felt oddly empty.

In fact, it was practically empty aside from the board at the front, the number of chairs and desks in a semicircle at the back and the two lockers.

Jaune’s voice cut the eerie silence. “You get what I mean now, right?”

Ruby nodded slowly. “Yeah...”

“Exactly. So even though we are at Beacon, I doubt we’re in familiar territory.”

Ruby shuddered a little at that notion. “P-please don’t say that-”

“There’s a letter on that desk.”

“Huh?”

Jaune signalled with his eyes over to one of the rows of chairs and desks in the semicircle formation. “Over there. There’s a letter on that desk.”

He was right. On the bottom row’s desk, there was a small folded up piece of paper with the words “read this” written in red block capitals, and “to Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc” written below it in red lowercase.

Ruby turned back over to Jaune. “...Was that there the whole time?”

He shrugged. “Probably. Let’s see what’s inside.”

Ruby nodded, walked towards the letter with slow steps and cautiously picked it up.

“What are you being so careful for?” Jaune asked behind her. “It’s a letter, not a bomb.”

“S-sorry!” Ruby stammered, running back over and unfolding the letter.

“What does it say?”

“Hold on...” Ruby said, as she read the red handwriting on the letter.

“_Hello students, and welcome to Beacon Academy!...Oh who am I kidding, you’ve been here for ages now. Anyway, getting straight to the point, __head over to__ the school’s amphitheatre at 7am!”_

Ruby looked over the letter in confusion. “What...Is this?”

“Let me see.” Jaune said, holding out a hand, causing Ruby to pass the letter over to him.

He looked at it for a few seconds before sighing and saying “Maybe we should do what the letter says.”

“What!?” Ruby exclaimed. “What if it’s dangerous!? It could be a trap!”

“Even if it is, it’s our best lead at the moment.” He looked over to a clock on the far wall of the room. “...Also, it’s 7:50.”

“Wait, seriously?”

Jaune gestured towards the clock. “You can double check if you want.”

“I trust you, Jaune. I don’t think I need to.”

He smiled. “Good.” He started to make his way to the doors at the end of the classroom. “Shall we?”

Ruby nodded and walked over. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”

Jaune nodded back. He opened the door, and the two of them walked out into the hallway together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOO DE DOO IT'S CROSSOVER TIME-  
Yeah this originally started off as a random thought I had in class once and now I'm writing for it!  
Brace yourselves, there's more to come~  
I hope you guys liked it! <3  
(The next chapters from Tumblr will be up over the next few days, just bear with me!)


	2. Opening Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone meets each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in the process of moving this fic from Tumblr to AO3, I'll probably add the rest of the chapters so far over the next few days. I'll let you know when I'm done moving this over!

“This doesn’t feel right at all…” Ruby muttered as Jaune led her through the hallways.

“See what I mean?” Jaune said, gesturing towards the walls around them. “Sure, we’re at Beacon, but we aren’t on familiar ground as far as I can tell.”

The hallways were almost the same as they usually were, except with the rows of lockers missing and some doors being boarded up.

One of them made Ruby stop in her tracks.

“I don’t think that one was there before.”

“What?” Jaune stopped walking.  
She gestured towards it. “This door. It definitely wasn’t here before.”

The door in question had been boarded up, like some of the doors that they had passed previously. There was a name plate on the top of the doorframe – where it would say what this room was for – but it didn’t say anything.

“Hm…” Jaune said thoughtfully. “This IS interesting…Let’s see if we find anything else.”

As the two of them continued walking, Jaune noticed another door that wasn’t usually in the building. It wasn’t boarded up, and the nameplate read “STORAGE”.

“Wanna check it out?” Ruby asked.

“We’re going to be late enough to whoever wrote that letter’s invitation as it is. We’ll check it out later.” He turned away from the door. “Let’s keep walking.”

Ruby nodded and followed him as he continued.

“From what I remember, the amphitheatre is…” He pointed. “This way. And that’s assuming they mean the one Ozpin talked to us in on our first day.”

“Most likely-” Ruby stopped again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look.” Ruby pointed up at an area of the wall.

Another of the screens that she had noticed in the lecture hall was mounted where she was pointing.

“What the heck is that thing?” Ruby asked. “I saw one in the classroom, and I have no idea what it’s for.”

Jaune shook his head. “No idea.”

“Same here…But it gives me a bad feeling-”

Before Ruby could finish, the screen suddenly filled with static.

“Ah-!?” She jumped backwards, while Jaune’s gaze narrowed on the screen.

The static flurried around the screen for a few seconds before a voice came out of the speakers.

“Uh, testing…Testing…One…Two…Three- Aha! Got it!”

The voice sounded unnaturally happy, but had a digital edge that sounded very inhuman. The voice alone made Ruby shiver a little.

“Righty then!” The voice continued. “This is a reminder for everyone who hasn’t arrived at the amphitheatre yet to hurry the hell up! I mean, seriously! I stated the time in every single letter!” The voice sighed, but it sounded robotic and growl-like. “Whatever, point is, anyone who isn’t at the amphitheatre yet, move your asses!”

The voice cut off, and the screen cut to black.

Ruby’s eyes were wide with shock, still focused on the screen.

Jaune put his hands on his hips and sighed. “I guess that’s our cue to hurry up.”

Ruby was still in shock, and hadn’t moved. “Who…the heck WAS that!?”

“Once again, no idea.” Jaune replied. “But at least we know who wrote that letter.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“Didn’t they say that they ‘stated the time in every single letter’?”

“What about it?”

“That means…There’s more people here!”  
Jaune stopped. “Really?”

“Yeah! If there was more than one letter, that suggests that there could be more people here!”

He thought for a moment. “Most likely…Either way, the best thing to do is to hurry up.” He turned around. “Coming?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

The two of them continued down the hallway, passing more doors – some being boarded up – until they got to one labelled “amphitheatre”.

“We’re here.” Ruby said.

“Care to do the honours?” Jaune asked, gesturing towards the door.

Ruby nodded and pushed the door open.

What she saw inside made her instantly step back in shock.

Everyone was there.

A number of the other students from Beacon, as well as some from the three other kingdoms had arrived in Vale for the upcoming Vytal Festival, and the majority of the students Ruby knew were standing there in the amphitheatre in front of her. Some stood in their teams, some stood closer to their closest friends; but everyone was there.

And they were all staring at them.

Everything was silent for a few seconds.

“Uh…” Ruby started. “Hey, guys!”

“Ah! Finally! More people!” An orange haired girl said, darting towards the two of them. She was wearing a sleeveless white top with a heart shape cut in the middle of the chest, with matching pink gloves and a short pink skirt.

She immediately starting shaking Jaune’s hand. “Jaune! You’re finally here! What took you so long?” She turned to face Ruby with a smile. “And Ruby too! It’s always good to see you.”

Jaune blinked. “…Nora? What are you doing here?”

“Could ask you the same thing, buddy!” Nora shrugged. “But we’re all here, so I didn’t bother.”

A boy wearing a dark green tailcoat with black and gold trim, white trousers, black shoes and with a long black ponytail with a magenta streak, as well as a faded pink lotus flower clutched in his left hand narrowed his eyes at her sternly. “Nora, please.”

“Okay Ren, no need to be a killjoy!”

“I’m not being a killjoy. You just need to calm down.”

“Well, it’s kinda hard to be calm when you get a mysterious letter inviting you to the amphitheatre after apparently falling asleep in a locker!”

“Wait a second!” Ruby interrupted. “You woke up in a locker too?”

Nora blinked. “Yeah. I thought I had blacked out after too much sugar or something, but turns out Ren woke up in one too.”

Ren nodded. “And before you asked, I’ve already asked them.”

“You mean they all-?” Ruby started.

“Woke up inside a locker and received an invitation summoning them here. Yes.”

“Hm…” Jaune said thoughtfully. “That IS weird…”

“Weird doesn’t even begin to describe it!” Nora replied, articulating her point by waving her arms around a little. “The fact that all 17 of us woke up in a locker can’t be coincidence, right?…Well, it was 17 last time I counted…”

“19.” A voice corrected.

“Huh?”

The voice had come from another boy near the corner of the room. He had spiky silver hair and wore a grey and black zip jacket, as well as black jeans and a large pair of black boots. He was standing next to a dark skinned girl with light green hair and deep red eyes.

“Sure, you counted 17,” he continued. “But with Jaune and Ruby, that makes 19 of us.”

Nora pouted. “Okay, no need to be a smartass.”

He tutted and rolled his eyes, prompting the other girl to shake her head.

“Wait, there’s 19, of us?” Ruby asked.

“What did I just say, little red?” The boy said cynically. “Doesn’t take a dust scientist to figure it out.”

“Okay Mercury, cut it out.” Jaune said.

Mercury smirked. “Oh look, blondie finally grew himself a pair!”

Jaune didn’t respond. He just glared at him.

The girl Mercury was with spoke for him. “Maybe Jaune’s right, we can save the conflicts for later.”

Another girl in the room adjusted the sunglasses she was wearing. “And do what?”

“Try to figure out what’s going on, duh.”

“Emerald has a point,” A boy next to the girl with the sunglasses said, who had dark scar-torn skin and blank eyes. “19 students all wake up inside a locker and find a letter telling us to go here. I know the professor throws his own students off of cliffs, but this is way too outrageous a stunt for even him to pull.”

“Wait, he threw you guys off a cliff?” A monkey faunus with messy blonde hair and an unbuttoned shirt said in slight disbelief.

“It’s a long story.”

While the two of them were talking, Ruby made a point to see who she recognised.

She had of course seen half of team JNPR as well as Emerald and Mercury, and had also noticed Pyrrha, team CFVY, team SSSN and even Penny, who was a robot they met from Atlas.

Before she could finish looking, someone tackle-hugged her from behind.

“RUUUUBYYYYYYY!!!!” The voice behind her said. “Oh thank goodness you’re here! I was so worried!”

Ruby recognised the voice instantly. “Yang-!?”

“Okay okay,” A second, calmer voice said, pulling Yang from on top of her. “You can give her some room to breathe now.”

“Seriously!” Another voice added. “Learn some respect for her boundaries.”

Ruby stopped and turned around, to find the rest of her team behind her. Blake being the one who pulled Yang off of her, and Weiss being the one telling her off for not respecting Ruby’s personal space.

“G-guys?” Ruby stuttered. “You’re here too?”

“Uh, hello?” Yang said, putting a hand on her hip. “We’re right in front of you!”

Ruby paused for a minute. “S-sorry…I’m still very confused as to what is going on.”

“Literally all of us are in the same boat here.” Blake replied.

“Make that a sinking ship.” Jaune said from behind them.

“Fine, all of us are in the same sinking ship.”

“Wait, Jaune, why do you think it’s sinking?” Ruby asked.

“This isn’t exactly a good situation, is it?” Jaune replied. “For starters, even though we’re at Beacon, we aren’t on familiar ground. And literally all of us woke up trapped in a locker. You try looking at the glass half full.”

“For the first time,” A boy with red hair and a smooth British accent added. “I actually agree with you.”

“Thanks, Scarlet. Anyway, we’re all in the same sinking ship. And none of us know who the captain is.”

“Well…” Ruby started, before another girl finished her sentence for her.

She had red hair tied up in a ponytail, green eyes, gold armour and a red sash on her waist.

“At least we’re here with people we know.” Pyrrha said with a smile.

“That’s right!” Another girl, Penny, added from nearby. “We’re all here with our friends!”

“Y-yeah!” Ruby said, looking towards everyone in the room, all people she recognised. “Even if we aren’t on familiar ground, we know that we can trust each other! And we can get through this together!”

The room mostly nodded in silent agreement.

“Well, can’t argue with your logic there, Ruby.” Jaune shrugged. “You always know how to keep our spirits up.”

“Yeah!” Nora added from nearby. “You’re like our personal cheerleader!”

“Y’know, I can’t disagree with that.” Sun also added.

Mercury looked over to Emerald, who shrugged.

“I guess.” He said.

“Well done, sis! You got the whole room going!” Yang said excitedly, tussling Ruby’s hair with a smile.

“Ah-! Yang, don’t mess it up!” Ruby started, fixing her hair as soon as Yang let go.

“Okay, okay.” Yang said, laughing a little.

Ruby stepped forward, so she had the whole room’s attention again. “Anyway, like I said, even if we’re in unfamiliar territory, we know we can work together! We’re all friends, we trust each other!” She started to smile a little. “We still have hope!”

“Hope, you say?” A voice said.

Ruby stopped in her tracks. “Huh-!?”

“That’s disappointing…You’re already having hope so early on.” The voice continued.

“Oh great…” Scarlet muttered, folding his arms angrily. “It’s that stupid voice from the screen again.”

“Hey, my voice is not stupid!”

“Wait…” Ruby started, turning around for a second to notice another one of the screens suspended on one of the walls, before turning around to the source of the voice. That IS the voice from that screen!

“Will we be able to find out who you are this time?” Coco asked, adjusting her glasses again.

“Don’t be impatient, I’m getting to it!”

“Just…” Ruby started. “Just who ARE you!?”

Almost as if on cue, as they were all focused on the small desk on the stage of the amphitheatre, something jumped up from behind it and landed on the surface of the desk.

It looked like a tiny anthropomorphic Beowolf, with one orange eye and one gold eye. A flame like tattoo surrounded the gold eye, and it had a big smile on it’s face.

The thing bowed. “Pleasure to meet you all. My name is Beochi, and welcome back to Beacon Academy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, Monokuma ISN'T in this one.  
Since this isn't a direct crossover between Danganronpa, I thought it'd be cool to have a RWBY-fied version of Monokuma and thought "why not a chibi Grimm?" so yeah.


	3. The Killing Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students are given some new rules, and the game begins for real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in the process of moving this fic from Tumblr to AO3, I'll probably add the rest of the chapters so far over the next few days. I'll let you know when I'm done moving this over!

“…Okay, that’s definitely not a real Beowolf.” Weiss said with a raised eyebrow.

A few things had happened when Beochi revealed himself; the majority of the students looked at the thing with confusion, Ruby had stepped back a little, Velvet had squealed in shock and ran behind Yatsuhashi, and Weiss had made that comment.

“Zip it, ice queen!” Beochi said in that grating voice again, pointing an annoyed finger at Weiss.

“Where did that thing even COME from!?” Velvet asked, shivering slightly while starting to move back from behind her teammate.

“Behind that desk, apparently.” Emerald answered. “Anyway, Weiss has a point, that can’t be a real Beowolf.”

“What makes you so sure?” Yatsuhashi asked, while safely guiding Velvet back to her original position.

“It’s tiny.”

“Good point.”

Ruby was looking at Beochi, dumbfounded, with her legs rooted to the spot.

Jaune’s gaze narrowed on him. “…What…Exactly are we looking at?”

Ruby shook her head. “Whatever it is, I don’t like it…”

“ANYWAY!” Beochi shouted, causing everyone to stop talking and turn back over to him.

“Thank you.” He continued. “Anyway, welcome back to Beacon Academy!”

Jaune sighed. “We never LEFT Beacon Academy.

“HEY! Don’t back-sass ME, blondie!”

Jaune tutted and rolled his eyes.

“Can you please just get to the point?” Ruby asked.

“Patience, please!” Beochi continued. “I’m getting to that!”

“Get to it quicker.” Jaune said bluntly.

“WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT BACK-SASS!?!?”

“Jaune, I don’t think it’s a good idea to rile that thing up…!” Ruby whispered.

“Okay, okay.” Jaune put his hands up a little in mock surrender. “Fine.”

“Thank you, miss Rose!” Beochi said. “You seemed to be the only thing to shut him up!”

Ruby froze.

Beochi blinked. “…What, was it something I said?”

Ruby turned around, her wide eyes fixed on him.

“Say…” She stuttered. “…Say that again.”

“I was only saying thank you…_Ruby_.” He put extra emphasis on the word “Ruby”.

Ruby flinched back a little. “…How…Do you know my name?”

“Oh, COME ON!” Beochi threw his hands up and sighed. “If I didn’t know who all you freaks were, how would I have put your names on those letters!?”

There was an eerie silence.

“…What? What did I say this time!?”

“Wait,” Sun started. “So what you’re getting at is, you know who ALL of us are?”

Beochi nodded. “Right you are!”

“…Okay, this is definitely too creepy to be the professor.”

“I already pointed that out earlier, Sun.” Fox said.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, as you were saying?”

“Thank you!” Beochi said. “Good to know that there actually are some polite people here! In fact,” he clicked his fingers. “Why not have something to help with that?”

Ruby suddenly felt something buzz in her pocket. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll, which was vibrating. She opened it up.

The first thing she noticed was that the scroll’s layout was completely different.

The menu it was on had a blue background with a few applications, but only four were available; “Profile”, “Messages”, “Map” and “Regulations”. The Regulations app was flashing, so thinking that it was the right way to go, she tapped it.

The scroll moved to a dark blue menu with white text across it. The text read:

“Academy Regulations:

1\. Students may only reside inside the school campus.

2\. Nighttime is between 10pm and 7am, and some areas are off limits during this period.

3\. Accessing off limits and locked areas is strictly prohibited, but some locked areas may be eventually unlocked.

4\. Violence against headmaster Beochi is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of surveillance cameras.

5\. L̵͙͐y̶̤͋Y̷͎̌W̶̲̃r̴̮̂5̶̭̔L̸̻͐U̸̜͛q̶̳̾I̵̡̿I̷̠V̷̖͘M̷̱̀Y̸̭̒C̶͕̉+̷̮s̶̲͂j̸̺4̴͚̀d̵̥̓b̶̛̠k̸͖̑Ḋ̵ͅm̴̱͂S̶̾ͅ6̸̗̇+̷̛̳c̸͉̋p̴͙̚Z̷̠̃p̵̬̓g̶̊ͅù̵͎7̵̗̔Ḑ̴̐1̴̳̾b̷̘͆x̵̱͐N̵̗͝è̴̥b̷̯̑6̴͍͋Q̸̩͆j̵͍̈́f̸̥͌i̸̺̾ẹ̵̈́ṕ̸̱4̴̣/̵̣J̵̲̋a̴͓͒w̶͈̓8̸̙́j̶̭͝M̷̜͂Ṱ̴͝M̶̜͌f̵ͅD̷̩̓R̷͉̓w̴͈͝e̶͎̐b̸̝͆K̴̘͒D̶̰͒Ù̶̧2̸͎͒W̸̝̎x̷̯̌U̷̞̒r̶͉͆Y̶͎͌v̴̢̇Ž̶͎2̷̛̟B̸̖Z̴̦̊b̸̡̓i̶̹̅v̷̲̋L̵̘̒Y̸̧̎5̵̞͋7̶̗͋Z̴͓̆p̸̡̀l̷͙̆v̷̨̉R̸̦̿2̶̫̂2̴͖̿s̷͍̎4̴̯O̴̰5̴̫̆y̷̨̚S̶̳͌w̸̦͊D̷̥̒r̵̳i̸̘̎a̴̺̔I̶̧̎Ĥ̸̤g̷̯͌Y̸͚͂b̵͖̈D̴̠̿r̴̫͑3̸̘͒r̷̫̃7̵̻̉/̷̹̔B̸͇̄H̵͔̀U̴͇̎b̶͇̋j̵̗̾q̷̝͝P̴̗̃y̵̼͘j̴͍̇6̵͓͐+̷̰̏s̷̥̿/̸̪V̸̢̈́

6\. V̷̆ͅa̸͕͝B̸͚̉0̴͍͐q̶̺͊3̴͍̓ũ̶̘G̷̦͆c̸͉͌v̴̻͐u̸͉̽6̶̪̎Y̴̤̓A̶̩̕y̵̖̅P̴͉̈́d̶̜̅6̴̹͊ä̵̱Z̴̮̆3̵͍̈́Ň̴͚s̵̤͆Z̸͙͒l̷̟͠+̸̰R̴̢̉y̷͍͊6̶̳̃c̵̦̄+̵̺̇2̶̩͆Q̴͉̃P̸̝̆R̴̝͐Ś̸̨3̸̨̔t̶̗̄i̴̪͋o̷̯͋4̵̮̂w̴̧̅8̸̲̌1̵̯̕R̷͈̚w̴̼̎Ư̷͕M̵̨̓J̸̠̐P̷̙̐Ń̶̹D̴͍̀m̶̩̊7̸̥̈́W̴̭͆7̵̥̂z̶̤̀N̷̹̄ẁ̷̜c̷̫̈́W̸͍͝5̸̝̓D̷̨͊ṫ̵͇j̸̣͆+̸̡̓h̵̪̆c̵̼̃7̶̨̏+̴̫̍b̷̟̈́3̶̱͂6̸̙̈ż̵̫l̵̳̈û̶̱S̴̠͒W̴͎͗y̶̼͒r̸͚̋P̷̢̄K̴̰͝V̴͍̿r̵̗̍2̴̳͝3̵̝͌C̵̮̅l̴̮͆w̵̩̑Z̴̭̄x̵̥͆B̴͔̏6̴͙͗b̶̺͋N̸̟̉F̵̻̾G̶̟̑Y̶͚̊p̷̬̂A̴̖͐c̸̩͗M̸̻o̶̺͗Z̸̞̿L̶͕̈́t̷̮͋a̸͂ͅT̵̨͠8̴̈͜I̶͍̒r̴̝̚V̶͂͜L̶̻̐Ă̸ͅk̵̛̞q̸̗̄3̴̺̊F̷̹H̵̙̄9̴̰b̸̧͝i̴͉̊t̴̥͑5̷̪͝M̷̫̕q̵̞́r̵̛̫k̶̢͋Ạ̸͗w̴̤̓5̷̤̇h̸̳̓T̸̘̆g̷͓͊Ẅ̵̧́B̷̲̈9̴͎̓t̴͝ͅH̸͍̎8̶͎̇í̴̱R̷͈̋4̵̜͌C̴̞̎Q̶̼e̵̻̊Â̷̻v̸͇́+̴̹̅e̷͈͝f̵̝̍F̷̟̌r̴̳͝z̷̞̆o̸͉͂J̸͇͘o̴͚̍L̸̩̓O̶͚̊3̶̦͘e̴͈̿N̸̻̏p̴̮͋+̸͚̇q̶̘͗w̴͙̿ơ̶̲Ǘ̷͓b̸͉̂9̴̗̃S̷̢̚D̴͓y̵̤͑Z̴͓͆s̷̋͜/̶͎͌8̷͙̿ṛ̷͌o̶̱̒l̸̝͝1̶̲̈́P̵̤̎+̷̯̀r̸͔9̶̜̅Ǵ̴̲g̵̰͆R̷̩͝Y̵̧͒g̶̺̓ŭ̵̝H̵̠͐ḯ̶͉J̷͖̑P̵̡͌h̸̻͐z̵͚̄3̵̱͋t̵͕͂ẗ̸͓́f̴̯̔u̷̲͒X̵͔̑0̷̝̈x̸̝͒C̶̗̿b̵͓́6̸̰̂9̸̟̓f̴̪̉6̵̖̉K̵͚͗f̸̢̿R̵̝͝/̸̳̄x̶͍̏k̸͕͘0̵̝̅i̶̱̋n̸̞͝Ȋ̸͙u̶̙͠e̸̺̒ḁ̸̓r̶̼͛3̶̱̾w̴͇͘V̶̢̄R̸̛͍f̵̰̚D̶̺͆ṭ̴̈́Ṟ̵̾V̶̱̈́e̸̹͠6̶͖͝/̸̣̔8̷̝͠J̷͙͛Ò̵̧n̷͍̈́B̶̝̿l̶͉͋4̶̥͘s̵̎ͅq̴̝̏ģ̸̎+̷̛̩H̵̯͑e̵̛̜E̷̜̿g̶̘͐Ỳ̴̪V̶͕̍y̸̫ṟ̴̈

7\. The headmaster can add additional regulations to this list at any time.”

“As you can see,” Beochi continued with a smirk. “I’ve given you a list of rules to follow during your time here!”

Ruby looked up from her scroll uneasily. A lot of these rules didn’t sit right with her. Looking around, she noticed the others were all checking their scrolls. (except for Fox, who had quickly whispered something to Coco, who whispered something else back to him.)

“So, we aren’t allowed to leave?” Yang asked. “Like…At all?”

“Well, the area you’re allowed to stay in extends to part of the area outside the campus, and there are some buildings around the campus area. You’ll see what I mean if you go outside later.”

“What about rules 5 and 6?” Sage asked.

“Huh?”

He pointed towards the text on his scroll. “The text has been encrypted and is basically unreadable. Are you going to reveal what it’s supposed to say?”

“Oh…” Beochi’s smirk grew wider. “I’ll get to that in a second. Those two rules are the most important rules on this list.”

Ruby shuddered. She didn’t know whether it was the look in Beochi’s eyes or the way he said it, but whatever it was, it gave her an even worse feeling than before.

“And another thing,” Jaune said, his unusually cold voice cutting through the air.

“What is it, Blondie?”

“The way these rules refer to you.” His eyes narrowed. “_Headmaster_ Beochi.”

The room suddenly went silent.

“Oh, of course!” Beochi said, jumping upwards. “I forgot to fill you in on that part.” He cleared his throat, but it sounded a little more like a robotic growl. “The professor isn’t available, so I am acting as your headmaster during your time here at Beacon!”

An eerie silence swept across the room, as some of the students had turned nervously to each other.

Jaune simply raised an eyebrow. “…You cannot be serious.”

“Why, do you object?”

“I mean, really. You? The headmaster? Please.”

“What did I say about back-sass, Blondie!?”

“Don’t call me ‘Blondie’.”

“I CAN CALL YOU WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!”

“Tch…”

Ruby stared at the scene in front of her in disbelief.

_This thing’s acting as our headmaster? What the heck’s going on!?_

“Anyway!” Beochi continued, snapping the group back to attention. “As the Timelord mentioned earlier, I haven’t filled you in on two of the rules on this list. So allow me to do that now~!” He cleared his throat again. “As I pointed out to Barbie Doll a few minutes ago, you aren’t allowed to leave. But…There is an exception to that rule. You can leave…” He smiled nastily. “But you just have to do one teeny tiny thing…”

Almost as soon as Beochi had said that, a deathly chill swept over the room.

Whatever he had to say couldn’t be good.

An evil grin erupted across the thing’s face.

“You have to **kill someone**!”

At those words, the deathly chill swiftly changed into utter dread.

“K-k-kill someone…?” Ruby stammered.

“Well technically,” Beochi continued without batting an eye. “You have to kill someone and get away with it. But I bet you weren’t expecting me to say THAT!” He cackled and jumped in the air excitedly. “To get outta here, you have to get away with murder!”

“Uh…” Ruby said nervously, looking around at the others. “Okay…Ha ha…Very funny-”

“I’m not kidding, little red.” Beochi replied with a smirk. “Check your scroll for proof.”

Ruby felt her scroll buzz in her pocket again. There had apparently been an update to the rules, so she checked the regulations app.

When she opened it, her eyes widened in horror.

“Any student who kills another student without being discovered shall graduate.”

Rule 5 had been decrypted, and what was written there made her blood go cold.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Jaune muttered. He also had his scroll out.

“We have to get away with murder?” Mercury said with a cold glare aimed at Beochi’s direction. “What the hell are you talking about!?”

Beochi gave him a sarcastic glance. “I think your ears need cleaning out, buddy. I literally just explained it to ya. You have to get away with murder if you wanna leave! As long as somebody’s blood is on your hands, you can leave! But first-”

Pyrrha immediately objected, cutting him off. “H-hey! Stop messing around! We can’t kill each other!”

“Of course you can.” Beochi said to her, with an unnaturally sweet smile. “Doesn’t take much to drive a sword into someone’s gut, or hit ‘em over the head really hard, or shove their head into a pool for a few minutes, or tie a REALLY tight rope around their neck…” He started drooling a little. “Oh, the endless possibilities to end your friends’ lives~!” He immediately composed himself. “But as I was say-”

But before he could finish, something happened.

“Okay…” Yang growled, her eyes flashing bright red. “**NO**.”

She shot over to Beochi like a bullet and picked him up by the neck.

“Wh- HEY!”

“You shut your fucking mouth and tell us how to really get out of here, you little shit.” Yang said coldly, not letting go.

“I already told you!” Beochi growled, flailing around to release himself from Yang’s grip.

“Like hell you did!” Her red eyes burned brighter. “Tell us how we really get out of here or I’ll rip you to fuckin’ shreds!”

“Put me down this instant!” He continued flailing in her tight grip. “I am your headmaster! Unhand me at once, young lady, or you will receive a punishment-!”

“YOU’RE NOT! THE FUCKING! HEADMASTER!” Flaming sparks flew around her as Yang tightened her fingers around Beochi’s neck.

“Yang, hold on!” Ruby said desperately.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “Yang, you’re breaking rule number 4. We haven’t even been here a day and you’re already breaking rules.”

“SHUT IT, JAUNE!” Yang screamed, only making her grip tighter.

It was then that Beochi stopped flailing. His limbs drooped down, and a repeating high-pitched beeping noise echoed through the amphitheatre.

It didn’t take long for them to figure out where the noise was coming from.

“Uh, Yang?” Nora started. “The tiny Beowolf is beeping!”

The heat from Yang’s aura started to dissipate as she looked over to Nora. “Huh?”

“It seems to be making some kind of recurring high pitched noise…” Penny said, putting a finger to her chin.

The beeping noise continued, but when it started to get faster, Jaune had a sudden realisation.

“Yang. Throw the tiny Beowolf.”

“What?”

A tone of urgency entered his voice. “YANG YOU HAVE TO THROW IT NOW!”

“Wait-” Yang started, looking down at Beochi in her hand.

He had gone completely limp, the orange eye had gone dark and the yellow eye was flashing in time with the beeps.

Her eyes snapped back to their usual colour.

“AGH!” She grabbed the thing with her other hand and threw it.

In Scarlet’s direction.

“Wait, what the hell-!?” He started, as the flying Beochi hit him in the torso. “Gah-!”

“I DIDN’T MEAN THROW IT AT SOMEONE ELSE, YOU IDIOT!” Jaune shouted angrily.

“AND WHY DID YOU THROW IT AT ME!?” Scarlet seconded, now holding Beochi in his hands.

“I don’t know, you were closest!” Yang stammered.

“No, he wasn’t!” Mercury said from the other side of the room.

“SHUT IT, MERCURY!”

A devious smirk suddenly appeared on Scarlet’s face. “Let’s hope you can catch as good as you throw!” He threw Beochi directly back at Yang.

“Wh- HEY!”

Jaune held his head in his hands, as the beeping continually got faster. “Oh my god…”

Yang’s eyes turned red again. “WHY THE HELL DID YOU THROW IT BACK!?”

“WHY DID YOU THROW IT AT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!?”

“YOU take it!” She threw Beochi back at Scarlet.

“You’re the one that picked him up, YOU take it!” He threw Beochi back at Yang.

The beeping was reaching a fever pitch by the time Yang got it back again, and she was ready to throw Beochi back at him.

“NO, YOU TA-”

“OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD-!” Jaune immediately snatched Beochi out of Yang’s hands, and threw him at the ceiling.

The beeping got faster and faster as Beochi was flying through the air, until…

He suddenly exploded.

The fiery explosion startled all of them, and no-one said anything until the heat died down.

“Wh…” Ruby started. “What the…!?”

Jaune sighed. “Just as I thought.” He walked back to his original position next to Ruby.

Yang’s eyes were still fixed on where the explosion was.

“That…” Her eyes faded back to lilac. “That coulda killed me!”

“THEN WHY THE FUCK DID YOU THROW IT AT ME!?” Scarlet shouted angrily.

Yang turned around to face him. “I thought YOU had it!”

“NO!!!”

Nora sucked some air in through her teeth. “I have a feeling that this is going to be REALLY important later…”

“Hopefully not.” Ren replied.

“Why is no-one mentioning the fact that Yang threw a LITERAL BOMB at my teammate!?” Sun asked, angrily pointing at Yang.

Yang turned around to face Sun. “I didn’t know he would explode!”

“You totally did.” Mercury said from the other side of the room.

“SHUT IT MERCURY!”

Sage gave Yang a cold glare as Scarlet walked back next to him.

“Just don’t do it again.”

“Okay, okay! Jeez!” She said. “But…Beochi’s gone right? We all saw him explode!”

“Three…” Jaune said quietly.

“Not now, Jaune. We can find a way out of here now!”

“Two…”

“Now that Beochi’s dead, we don’t have to kill each other anymore!”

“One.”

“YA REALLY THINK SO, BARBIE DOLL!?” A voice growled from behind her.

“Huh…?” Yang turned around, only to find Beochi, perfectly fine, standing back on the podium.

“OH GOD THERE’S MORE OF YOU.”

“Yup!” He said with a nod. “The guy that created me made hundreds of copies in case I ever got destroyed! It’s called life insurance, honey.”

“Grr…” Yang clenched her hands into fists. “DAMN YOU…!”

“Anyway, as I said, there’s no other way outta here! Unless you get your hands dirty with your friend’s blood and the others are none the wiser, of course.”

Scarlet gave Beochi a cold expression. “And how exactly do you expect us to kill each other? Because last I checked, you’ve apparently confiscated our weapons.”

“Huh?” Ruby said, immediately running her hands over the belt where she usually kept Crescent Rose to check the validity of Scarlet’s statement.

Crescent Rose wasn’t there.

And when she looked over at Jaune, Crocea Mors wasn’t sheathed on his belt either.

Scarlet was right.

“It’s not gonna be like a gladiatorial arena!” Beochi objected in mock horror. “That’s just barbaric!”

“Coming from the guy literally telling us to kill each other.” Mercury replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Zip it. And to answer YOUR question, Edgelord, I want to keep this as professional as possible!”

Scarlet looked at him in bewilderment. “…‘Edgelord’…?”

“THAT’S the part you’re focusing on!?” Neptune turned over to Beochi. “And how exactly will us killing each other be professional?”

“Well, I was trying to explain it…” Beochi flashed a glare at Yang. “WHEN BARBIE DECIDED TO TAKE A STEP TOO FAR OUT OF HER BOX.”

Yang gave him a burning glare back.

“Well Yang’s not gonna grab you now.” Jaune said. “So tell us. How will you make mass murder professional?”

“Glad you asked, Blondie! At least SOMEONE in this school has manners!” He glared at Yang again. “Well, you’re gonna take part in what’s called a killing game!”

“Killing…Game…?” Ruby repeated, still not believing what was happening.

“Jeez, does everyone here have a hearing problem? Yeah, a killing game. Allow me to explain the rules.” Beochi mimed putting on a pair of glasses and flipping open a book.

“As the regulations on your scrolls stated, you aren’t allowed to leave the school. There’s enough resources for you to survive and your dormitories are open, so I don’t see a reason for you to leave. However, as I mentioned before, there is something you can do that gives you a one way ticket to the outside: getting away with the murder of someone else. BUT…” He raised a finger. “There’s a catch.”

“Every contract has a catch…” Coco said with a glare. “What’s the catch?”

“Well said, Rich Kid!” Beochi mimed flipping through the pages again. “The catch will be decrypted in three…Two…One…Now.”

Ruby’s scroll vibrated again, so she checked the regulations again.

Rule 6 had been decrypted this time.

“After a student’s death, the other students shall participate in a class trial to find the killer. Participation in class trials is mandatory for all surviving students.”

“‘Class trial’?” Blake read out loud.

“Yup!” Beochi replied with a nod. “Y’see, this is where the “getting away with murder” part comes in. If one of you idiots mans up and decides to murder someone, I will hold something called a class trial. Everyone will have to argue to find out who did the dirty deed and disrupted the peace.” He mimed taking the glasses off and snapping the book shut. “Killing someone is all well and good, but you gotta get away with it if you wanna leave.”

“So if someone kills someone-” Sage started.

“I think you mean ‘**when** someone kills someone’.”

“No.” He continued. “If someone kills someone, you expect us to solve the murder?”

“I doubt it’ll be very hard for you, Timelord.”

“…Do you just have nicknames on tap or something?”

“Prrrobably.”

“Wait…” Weiss said, raising her hand as if asking a teacher a question.

“What’s up, Ice Queen?”

She slowly put her hand down. “Well, if the murderer gets away with their crime, they are allowed to leave, right?”

“Yeah, I just explained that-”

“What happens if they don’t?”

The room went silent again.

“I mean,” Weiss went on. “What happens if we find them out?”

“Oh…!” Beochi smiled nastily again. “I’ll explain that when the time comes.”

“‘When the time comes’-?” Ruby started, before shouting at Beochi. “Stop saying ‘when’! We aren’t gonna kill each other! We just can’t!”

“You say that now, little Red,” He gave her a nasty smirk. “But don’t be surprised when someone changes their tune.”

“But we aren’t going to kill each other!” Tears were starting to form in her silver eyes. “We’re gonna find another way out of here!”

Beochi stared at her for a few seconds, before bursting into uproarious laughter.

“AHAHAHA! I LOVE YOUR DRIVE, LITTLE RED! But like it or not, someone here is gonna betray you!”

Ruby’s eyes widened. She looked around desperately, as if begging for help.

It was then that she noticed that everyone was staring at her.

“I…” She started. “…I-”

“Well then!” Beochi snapped. “Consider the opening ceremony over! Feel free to wander around the academy, but…” He smirked. “There’s no hope in trying to find another way to escape.”

Ruby was taking in struggled gasps of air.

“I…GH-!” She immediately turned tail and used her semblance to bust through the amphitheatre doors.

“Ruby, wait-!” She heard Yang say as she flew off.

Ruby sped through the halls and up some of the floors, before stopping at her dorm, where a scanner with a white image of a scroll on it and a doorbell hung next to the doorframe.

She scanned her scroll on the scanner, which flashed with a green light, causing the door to unlock.

Ruby slowly opened the door.

The medium sized room was painted a beige colour. It had a desk next to the window with a matching chair and a small typewriter, some paper and a scroll charger on top of it, a table with two small chairs and a bed with a red and white cover and a pristine white pillow.

Ruby was still shaken by the so-called opening ceremony and didn’t know what to do.

So she fell face forward onto the bed, hugging the pillow around her face.

_This…This can’t be real…_

* * *

**Chapter 0: Prologue – completed!  
Students remaining: 19**

• Team RWBY  
◦ Ruby Rose  
◦ Weiss Schnee  
◦ Blake Belladonna  
◦ Yang Xiao Long  
• Team JNPR  
◦ Jaune Arc  
◦ Nora Valkyrie  
◦ Pyrrha Nikos  
◦ Lie Ren  
• Team SSSN  
◦ Sun Wukong  
◦ Scarlet David  
◦ Sage Ayana  
◦ Neptune Vasilias  
• Team CFVY  
◦ Coco Adel  
◦ Fox Alistair  
◦ Velvet Scarlatina  
◦ Yatsuhashi Daichi  
• Mercury Black  
• Emerald Sustrai  
• Penny Polendina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the prologue moved over! Thankfully there's not much left of DanganRWBY to move over after this, so yeah.  
Honestly that bit with Scarlet and Yang was so much fun to write-  
And Beochi's just such a fun character to write in general-  
Anyway I hope you liked it!  
But then that begs the question: Which of these 19 characters is gonna die first?  
Please comment with your predictions! I'm interested to see!


	4. Let's Betray Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not long after the opening ceremony, Ruby decides to get her bearings and try to come up with a plan.  
But after a shocking discovery with the help of Ren and Nora, that's easier said than done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in the process of moving this fic from Tumblr to AO3, I'll probably add the rest of the chapters so far over the next few days. I'll let you know when I'm done moving this over!  
(Thankfully the chapter after this is the last one I have to move over so yay I guess)

“Ruby, lying there crying on your bed isn’t going to solve anything.”

It was at this moment that Ruby realised that she had left the door open. She lifted her head from her pillow and looked behind her.

Jaune was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded.

Ruby buried her head back into the pillow. “Not now.”

Ruby didn’t know how long it had been since she had run off from Beochi’s opening ceremony, but it felt like hours. And it was hard to keep calm when Beochi telling the group to kill each other was constantly running through her head.

She heard footsteps, and Pyrrha’s voice joined them. “You shouldn’t be so direct, Jaune.”

“It’s not going to solve anything, though.” He replied.

“I know, but...She’s scared.”

“We all are. But we need to do something.”

Ruby hugged the pillow tighter as Jaune continued.

“I know she’s still naive and innocent and everything,” he said. “But she still has to wake up and face this.”

Ruby moved her head a little away from the pillow without lifting it up, so she could see the two figures at her doorway; albeit upside-down and slightly distorted due to the tears filling up her eyes.

Jaune remained in his original position, except his arms weren’t folded and he was articulating his point with his left hand. Pyrrha was starting to walk inside the room, and looked over to the bed worryingly.

“Ruby, are you okay?”

Ruby didn’t know what to say, so she mumbled something into her pillow while hugging it tighter around her face.

She heard some footsteps coming over to the bed, and felt someone gently place their hand on the back of her shoulder.

“I know you’re scared.” Pyrrha’s soothing voice was a lot closer now. “Trust me, we all are. But Jaune’s right. You can’t cry about it all day.”

Ruby didn’t say anything at first, but eventually replied “We have to do something.”

Or at least she tried to with her face still buried in the pillow.

Pyrrha seemed to understand her. “That’s right.” Ruby felt her hand lift up off her shoulder.

Ruby carefully lifted her head up from the pillow. Her vision was still distorted due to all her tears, but it was starting to clear up, so she could see Pyrrha’s warm smile.

“We have to do something,” She repeated, starting to get up from the bed. “Beochi says that killing someone is the only way out, but that can’t be right! There’s gotta be another way out!”

“We just need to find it.” Jaune finished her sentence, still leaning against the doorframe.

Ruby wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, finally clearing up her vision, and gave a determined smile.

“Exactly.”

Pyrrha laughed a little, and gently tousled Ruby’s hair. “There’s the Ruby Rose I know.”

Ruby also laughed in response, glad to be feeling a sense of positivity in this insane scenario.

Pyrrha smiled, and carefully fixed Ruby’s hair before putting her hands down.

“There.” She said reassuringly. “You ready?”

Ruby nodded determinedly. “Yeah. Let’s find a way out of here.”

“Wow...” Ruby said, impressed, as the three of them walked through the dorm room halls. “This is almost just like it used to be...”

The hall was one of a few on top of each other, and they had dorm rooms for each individual student lined up neatly.

“Yeah,” Pyrrha agreed. “Except it used to be for each team rather than each individual student.”

“Maybe that Beochi thing changed it somehow.” Jaune said.

“He’s a tiny Beowolf...Uh...Robot, I think?” Ruby replied. “I don’t think he’d be able to do that on it’s own.”

“We don’t know what he’s capable of yet. Well, we know he’s capable of an explosion, but you get my point.”

Ruby shivered a little. “I don’t really want to think about what he’s capable of...”

This prompted a stern look from Pyrrha in Jaune’s direction. Jaune sighed.

“Just a shot in the dark.”

Ruby quickly changed the subject. “Any idea where anyone else is?”

Jaune shrugged. “They all kinda dispersed after the announcement. Some of them might also be trying to find a way out or something.”

“That’s good! They might be able to help us!”

“Exactly.” Pyrhha nodded. “All the more reason to keep going.”

They eventually reached some stairs at the end of the hall and went down them, heading into one of the main halls of the school building.

“Jaune and I went through this way earlier,” Ruby explained as they walked through the hall. “After we woke up in that classroom. Not much seems to have changed from then, though.”

Pyrrha nodded. “Do you think anyone will be-”

Pyrrha’s question was answered in the form of a banging noise up ahead.

Pyrrha and Ruby stopped, startled, and Jaune nodded.

“Bingo.”

The three of them ran to the source of the sound.

When they got there, they saw someone trying to kick down a boarded-up door.

Someone that Ruby instantly recognised.

“Mercury?”

The boy in question turned around for a brief second after hearing his name.

“Oh. Hey.” He immediately continued trying to kick down the door.

Ruby walked up closer to inspect the door. It was the one with the empty nameplate that her and Jaune had found earlier that day.

By the looks of things, Mercury’s kicks weren’t making much progress.

Ruby cleared her throat. “Uh...Any luck?”

Mercury shook his head, not turning back around. “Unfortunately, no. Seems that thing was right about confiscating our weapons.” He gestured to the general direction of the amphitheatre. “Little bastard jammed my guns.”

“Oh! Because your weapons are in your boots, right?”

“Precisely.” He gave another powerful kick to the door, barely making it budge. “However, that little fucker still found a way to stop them from working.”

Jaune sighed. “That’s a pain.” He gestured towards the blank nameplate on the door. “Why are you so obsessed with getting in, anyway? Judging by the nameplate, it’s most likely an empty room.”

Mercury was just about to reply when someone else replied for him.

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

Mercury sighed, annoyed. “Emerald, how long have you been standing there.”

Emerald, who had appeared to have joined them while Mercury was occupied with the door, smirked and casually flicked her hair back. “Not long enough for you to have noticed, apparently.” She flashed a smile over in Ruby’s direction. “Hey, Ruby.”

“Hi, Emerald!” Ruby replied cheerily. “Have you found anything yet?”

She pointed over at Mercury smugly. “Nothing other than Merc here taking his anger out on a door.”

Mercury shoved her off. “Shut up.”

“Do you have any idea where anyone else is?” Jaune asked.

Emerald shrugged as Mercury ignored him and continued to kick the door.

“There might be some more people further down. I think there might be some people in the dining hall or something. I mean, that place is massive, so there might be something going on down there.”

Ruby looked over to Jaune and Pyrrha with a wide smile. “That’s a start!”

Pyrrha smiled back. “Sure is.” She turned back over to Emerald. “Thanks for the help.”

Emerald winked. “No problem. I’m just gonna see how long it takes for Mercury to give up on this door.”

This prompted another shove from Mercury.

Jaune smirked. “Shall we?”

Ruby nodded. “Good call.”

The three of them walked past Emerald and Mercury in the general direction of the dining hall.

“You sure it’s a good idea just to go by what Emerald said?” Jaune wondered skeptically.

“I know, but it’s the only lead we have!” Ruby said, cheerfully leading the way. “Unless we see a room with anyone else, the dining hall is our current destina-”

Pyrrha pointed over at an open door. “You mean like in there?”

“Yeah, basically. But the-”

Ruby realised what Pyrrha was implying. Her and Jaune immediately joined her at the door – specifically the “STORAGE” door that Jaune and Ruby had passed on the way to the amphitheatre.

“You think someone’s in there?” Jaune asked.

Pyrrha nodded. “I thought I saw someone. Let’s go inside.”

Jaune and Ruby nodded in unison, and the three of them headed inside.

The room felt a lot bigger than it should have been when looking at the door. There were many tall warehouse-like shelves across the room, with many random and miscellaneous items stacked neatly on them; including wind-up flashlights, different engineering parts and components, plastic suitcases in an array of colours and sizes, leather satchels in a less wide array of colours and sizes and small boxes filled with different tools.

“Jeez, how did that thing GET all this stuff!?” A voice said from further down in the room.

_This must’ve been who Pyrrha saw…_Ruby thought, when a second voice answered the first.

“If he’s working with someone, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

_There’s two people in here?_ Ruby thought, before her, Pyrrha and Jaune started to head further down the storage room towards the source of the two voices.

They eventually found Coco and Fox looking over one of the shelves, with Coco holding a small hammer from one of the boxes in her hand.

“What the hell is all this stuff even for, anyway?” Coco passed the hammer over to him.

Fox felt the hammer in his hand for a few seconds, before shrugging and passing it back over. “For if he expects us to actually go along with it, I guess.”

She dropped the hammer back into the box with a smirk. “Yeah. Like hell we’re gonna go along with it.” She eventually noticed the three of them walking over. “Oh! Ruby! Hey!”

“Hey, guys.” Ruby said with a polite wave.

“It’s good that you’re back.” Fox said as Ruby, Pyrrha and Jaune joined them. “We were starting to worry about you.”

“Oh, yeah...” Ruby replied sheepishly. “Sorry about running off like that...”

“Hey, it’s fine!” Coco said reassuringly. “I mean, you were worried for a good reason.”

Fox nodded. “Agreed. This isn’t exactly a good situation to be in.”

“Preaching with the choir on that one...” Ruby said with a laugh. “What do you guys reckon this place is?”

“It said it was some kind of storage room on the door,” Coco answered, swiftly taking a screwdriver from a different box on the shelf. “But it only seems to be storing random crap.”

“I can see that.” Jaune quipped from behind them.

“What do you think all of this is being stored for?” Pyrrha asked.

Fox shrugged as Coco tossed the screwdriver back into the box. “Not sure. But some of the tools here could be used to aid our escape.”

Pyrrha’s eyes quickly scanned some of the items on nearby shelves. “We have various tools and flashlights...So I see what you mean.”

Fox smirked. “Yeah. It was a pretty dumb move for that thing to provide stuff to help us escape, wasn’t it?”

Coco chimed in. “Yeah, like hell we’re going along with what he says!”

“Of course we aren’t gonna go along with it!” Ruby agreed.

Pyrrha smiled. “Yeah!”

Jaune nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

“Wow, you’ve amassed quite the following.” Coco said.

“Heheh...” Ruby laughed awkwardly. “I have been told I am good at leading people...”

“Hey, Oz didn’t put you as the team leader of team RWBY for no reason, you know.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of which.” Ruby asked. “Did either of you see Weiss, Blake or Yang on the way here?”

Fox shrugged. “I don’t think so...”

“That’s fine.” Pyrrha replied. “I’m sure we’ll find them somewhere.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah!”

“Well, it’s best we not keep you any longer.” Fox said.

Ruby gave both of them a smile. “It was nice to talk.”

“Likewise.”

Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha left the storage room and continued heading towards the dining hall.

Ruby was smiling. “That was nice, wasn’t it?”

Pyrrha nodded. “Yes. Talking to the others seems to be putting you in a better mood.”

Ruby laughed a little before turning over to Jaune. “Are we getting closer?”

“Yeah, actually.” Jaune replied. “We’ve only got a little while to go until we get to the dining hall.” He turned over to Pyrrha. “Do you reckon there’ll be people there?”

Pyrrha shrugged slightly. “Emerald’s lead is the only lead we have.”

“Mind if we join you?”

The three of them stopped at hearing someone else’s voice and turned around.

Ren and Nora had walked up to the group from behind them.

Nora waved cheerfully. “Heeeey!”

Ruby’s face lit up. “Guys!”

Jaune smiled. “Oh, hey. How long have you been following us?”

Nora raised an eyebrow. “You’re our team leader, we’re meant to follow you.”

“Very funny.” Pyrrha replied.

“We noticed you leave that room over there.” Ren said, gesturing towards the storage room. He still had the faded lotus in his hand. “We thought it would be a good idea to follow you.”

Jaune shrugged. “That makes sense-”

“Also,” Ren’s tone went a little serious. “We found something outside the academy you might want to see.”

“Wait, what?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, yeah!” Nora nodded. “Seriously! This is HUUUGE! It TOTALLY explains one of the things that Beochi guy said earlier!”

“What is it?”

“It’s a lot easier to show rather than tell.” Ren replied. “Trust me on this.”

Ruby looked towards Pyrrha nervously.

“Well,” Pyrrha said. “We’re headed towards the dining hall to see if we could find anyone. That leads to outside, so if you don’t mind taking a detour…?”

“That’s fine.”

“Okay!” Ruby said. “Let’s see if we can find anyone!”

At that, the five of them continued walking in the direction of the dining hall.

Even though she was trying to keep a positive attitude, what Ren and Nora had said had put Ruby on edge.

She quickly leaned over to Nora in an attempt to suppress her discomfort.

“Hey, Nora?”

“Mmhmm?”

“Before you show this to us...This...Thing you and Ren were talking about...How huge is it?”

“OH MY GOSH, IT’S MINDBLOWING.” Nora replied, articulating her point with her hands.

Ruby’s brow furrowed uncertainly. “...How mindblowing?”

“Well, let’s just say that one of the things Beochi said now makes SO much sense.”

Ruby gulped nervously.

“Let’s not focus on that for now.” Ren said calmly. “We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

Pyrrha nodded. “That’s right. There’s no need to worry about it unnecessarily.”

“Y-yeah, I guess...” Ruby replied. She continued walking with the others when another door suddenly caught her attention.

Specifically, a door labelled “kitchen”.

Jaune had noticed. “Oh hey, Beochi actually kept the school’s kitchen.”

This prompted Ren, Nora and Pyrrha to turn around.

“Makes sense.” Nora said. “That thing did say there were plenty of resources for us to stay here.”

“He did also say that the only way out is through murder, so I’m taking that with a pinch of salt.” Ruby replied, already starting to push the door open.

Nora shrugged. “I dunno, he also seems to want us to stay here for some reason...”

“Point is, we’re looking inside.”

“Figures.”

Jaune sighed. “Do we have to? We’re pretty close to the dining hall now.”

Ren shrugged, as him and Pyrrha started to follow Ruby and Nora inside.

Jaune stood there for a few seconds.

“Guess that’s a yes.” He said to himself, following after them.

The room inside was like an industrial kitchen that you’d see in a school, but it had been scaled down to the size of a medium sized kitchen you’d find at home. Some of the cupboards had been left open, exposing large steel pots and frying pans inside, and a small electric kettle plugged in nearby a large stove.

“It doesn’t seem much has changed.” Ren noted.

“...Huh.” Ruby said. “Guess you were right, Nora.”

“See?” Nora replied, placing her hands on her hips with a smirk. “Told you!”

Jaune was confused. “...Why are we in here again? I thought we were heading to the dining hall.”

Pyrrha shrugged. “We’re looking around, I suppose.”

“We already know what the school looks like.”

“True, but there has been the apparent addition of new rooms. Looking around is understandable in this scenario.”

“Touché. Well, we’ve checked this room out, I think we should head.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, good ide-”

She stopped. Something on a countertop had caught her eye, so she walked back over to it and picked it up.

It was a meat cleaver, but not the kind you’d find in a kitchen. It was made of black metal with a dark rubber handle, and the blade was slightly rounded.

She shuddered a little just from looking at it.

“What is it?” Jaune asked.

Ruby turned around, showing the cleaver to the others. “I...Don’t think this is for food.”

The others looked just as uneasy as she was when she found it.

“What the heck is that kinda thing doing here?” Nora asked, leaning in to get a closer look.

Ruby shrugged, tilting the cleaver a little so that the light moved up and down the blade. “I’m not sure...But whatever it is, I don’t like it...”

Jaune folded his arms. “Maybe it’s something to do with what Beochi said earlier.”

Ruby froze as he went on.

“Scarlet was right, Beochi had confiscated our weapons. He wants us to kill each other...” He walked over and took the cleaver from Ruby to get a closer look.

“...Looks like he’s trying to give us a method.”

Ruby stuttered nervously. “W-wait, let’s not jump to conclusions! I mean sure, it doesn’t LOOK like a kitchen utensil, but I don’t think it’s an actual weapon-!”

“What, did you guys find something too?”

Ruby stopped after hearing the voice, and turned around to see Yatsuhashi and Velvet walking inside.

“Oh. Hey.” Ruby replied with a wave.

“Hey.” Yatsuhashi replied, his gaze quickly falling on the cleaver in Jaune’s hand. “And it looks like I was right.”

“Ruby found it on the counter. We were just looking over it when you guys came in.” Jaune said. “And you said that you found something…?”

Velvet nodded, showing something in her hand to the group. “Yeah, you might want to take a look at this.”

Ruby’s eyes widened when she saw what it was. Or more specifically, what _they_ were.

“Kunais?” Ren noted as he saw the small set of throwing knives in Velvet’s hand.

“Yeah.” Velvet said with a nod, retracting her hand back. “Yatsu and I found them in a classroom on the way here.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed. “It looks like Jaune’s idea might not be too far off after all.”

Ruby shivered at the thought.

“What should we do with them?” Pyrrha asked. “We shouldn’t just leave them lying around, but we have nowhere else to put them.”

Yatsuhashi thought for a moment.

“Well, Ruby found that cleaver on the counter, right? We could put both things back there for now until we find somewhere else.”

Nora nodded. “Yeah, good call.”

This prompted Velvet and Jaune to walk over to the counter, both laying their respective weapons down on the surface.

Ruby was still on edge. _I mean, we can’t possibly go along with what Beochi said...Right?_

Yatsuhashi had noticed. “Hey.”

“Huh?” Ruby said, looking up at him.

“I wouldn’t worry.” He had a calm smile. “It doesn’t matter what Beochi can throw at us. He won’t be able to break the bonds that we have.”

“...You really think so?”

Velvet nodded. “Of course! I mean, we’re all friends, aren’t we? The only reason we’ve got so far as students is because of each other!”

“Exactly.” Yatsuhashi seconded. “I don’t feel that there’s any need to panic.”

Similarly to her talk with Coco and Fox earlier, Velvet and Yatsuhashi’s words seemed to have calmed Ruby down.

She slowly smiled again and nodded. “Yeah, that’s right!”

He laughed a little to himself. “Thought so.”

He gestured towards the door. “We’re going to try and find Coco and Fox. Do you want to come with us?”

Jaune shook his head. “We have other things to deal with. But if you need some help, we last saw them in that storage room down the hall.”

“Oh! Great!” Velvet replied happily.

“Actually while we’re on that subject,” Ruby asked. “Have either of you seen the rest of my team?”

“Hm...” Velvet put her hand to her chin, her ears folding over slightly in thought, before they quickly folded back up again as she got the answer she was looking for. “Oh! I do remember briefly seeing Weiss heading outside.”

“That’s a start!” Ruby turned over to Ren and Nora. “And the thing you want to show us is outside, right?”

Ren nodded.

“Great!”

“I guess that’s our cue to part ways.” Yatsuhashi said, as him and Velvet started to leave.

Velvet waved. “See you soon!”

Ruby waved back with a smile until the two of them had disappeared from view.

She turned back over to the others. “Do you reckon we’ll find anyone in the dining hall?”

Nora shrugged. “Even if we don’t, it’s pretty easy to get outside from there.”

“Either way, it’s our best bet right now.” Jaune said, walking in the direction of the door. “Let’s go.”

Ruby nodded, swiftly taking the leading position as the others followed her out.

“Okay...” She said to herself, as they got closer to the dining hall. “So far we’ve seen Mercury, Emerald, team CFVY and the rest of team JNPR...” She counted the heads she remembered seeing on her fingers. “So...If I remember correctly from who else was in that room...”

She put her hand to her chin thoughtfully as they finally got to the room they were looking for. “We’re still to see Penny, the rest of my team, and team SSSN-”

“Oh, speak of the devil.” Jaune said.

“Huh?” Ruby looked back up.

She was used to seeing the dining hall filled up with the various academy students, so seeing the rows upon rows of empty tables made her feel a bit uneasy.

However, that quickly faded when she saw who Jaune was referring to.

Sun and Neptune were a short distance away from them, and were apparently mid-conversation when Ruby and team JNPR walked in.

“Look, I want to get out of this as much as the next guy,” They heard Neptune say. “But I don’t think fighting him directly is a good idea.”

“Well yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try!” Sun replied confidently. “I mean sure, we don’t have our weapons, but we still know how to fight! If we’re able to take down giant city-destroying monsters, then we’ll be able to take down that little rat who thinks he can order us around!”

“...You DO remember what happened when Yang tried to fight him, right?”

“Well yeah he exploded, but we’ve dealt with explosions before!”

Neptune was about to say something then stopped, as if thinking for a moment, before replying “Okay, you got me there.”

Ruby was about to say “hi” to the pair, when Jaune beat her to it.

“True, but we haven’t dealt with tiny exploding Beowolves who want us to kill each other before.”

Sun and Neptune jumped backwards at the sound of Jaune’s voice.

“Holy FUCK, man! You scared the shit out of me!”

Jaune laughed. “Hey, I finally got a one-up on you!”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “Finally?”

“PLEASE don’t do that again…!” Neptune said with a sigh of slight relief.

Jaune shrugged with a sly grin. “Can’t make any promises.”

It took a few seconds before Sun noticed that Ruby was with them.

“Oh, would’ya look at who it is!” He said, with a smile and a wave in her direction. “Hey there!”

Ruby ran down to them, slowly but surely followed by team JNPR. “Hi!”

“Good to see you again.” Neptune said, raising his eyebrow in slight concern. “You doing okay?”

Ruby shrugged. “As okay as I can be in this kinda situation, I guess...”

“Great!” Sun replied. “It’s good that you’re feeling better, huh?”

“Guess so.” Ruby said. “Oh, did you see where Weiss, Blake and Yang went after that opening ceremony thing?”

Sun thought for a moment, his tail slowly flicking from side to side. He turned to Neptune, who shrugged.

“Nope.”

“But Scarlet and Sage headed outside, I think.”

“Then what are you two doing in here?” Jaune asked. “Sun, you ARE their leader. Shouldn’t you be with them?”

Sun put his hand behind his head awkwardly. “Yeah, Scarlet isn’t that much of a talker...”

“Huh?” Ruby tilted her head in confusion. “But...You’re his leader?”

“Yeah, I know! Nep and I have known the guy for nearly a year! But any attempt at conversation and all I get is sarcasm, one-word answers and death glares...”

Ruby looked even more confused. “...But he doesn’t seem like that when I talk with him, though...”

“Yeah, for some reason there’s only a small list of people he’s actually willing to talk to.” Neptune replied with an annoyed sigh. “A VERY small list.”

“From what you described,” Ren put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “It sounds like he has a severe lack of trust.”

“VERY severe.” Sun added. “So Nep and I were just chilling here so we can figure out what to do.”

“Ooh~!” Nora mused with a smirk. “You boys think you know what’ll make that thing tick?”

“Of course we do!” Sun replied with a smirk of his own. “We’re Junior Detectives!”

Jaune gave them an skeptical look. “...You didn’t even work with that sheriff for a day. I don’t think you qualify as junior detectives.”

Neptune pouted and dramatically turned away in mock anger.

“You’re just jealous.” Sun replied nonchalantly.

Ruby laughed a little. The two best friends’ antics couldn’t help but crack her up.

“I reckon that’s our cue to head.” Nora said.

“Oh, yeah!” Ruby turned over to her. “Outside, right? So you can show us what you were talking about?”

“Uh-huh! And I think some of the others are out there too.”

“Of course…!” Ruby turned back over to Sun and Neptune. “Sorry we couldn’t stay for long.”

“It’s cool.” Neptune replied.

Sun gave the group a thumbs up. “Good luck finding whatever you’re looking for.”

Ruby nodded and led the group outside to the academy courtyard.

Everything outside the academy seemed about the same, with green grass plains, cobblestone paths, and water fountains and benches scattered around the area.

“It just doesn’t feel right when it’s so empty...” Ruby thought out loud, looking around the area uneasily.

Team JNPR nodded in agreement.

“Usually this area would be filled with students on their break.” Ren noted, gesturing around with his hand. “Some would be sparring over there, some chatting on the bench over there, others going over some notes from class over there...”

“It just feels...Bare.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” He mused thoughtfully. “It’s quite unsettling.”

“Yeah, it-”

Ruby was about to continue when something in the sky caught her eye, causing her to stop in her tracks.

Ren obviously noticed. “What’s wro-” He started, before noticing what Ruby had seen. “...Oh.”

The distant shape was pretty big and almost cone-like in shape. It was far away, but she could see that it had pathways and docking bays leading inside of it, as well as a massive dust crystal at the bottom.

“...Is that what I think it is…!?”

The others had noticed too.

Pyrrha turned over to Nora. “Is this what you and Ren wanted to show us?”

Nora shook her head. “Nope. But that can wait!” She pointed over to the shape in the sky. “What the heck is Amity Colosseum doing here!?”

“We need to get closer.” Jaune said. “To make sure that it’s actually the colosseum and that we aren’t all seeing things.”

“Good call.” Ruby replied.

They ran over to it, eventually stopping underneath it’s vast shadow. Even though it was pretty high up, the dust crystal at the bottom was a lot clearer to see.

Nora made a salute-like gesture, as if shielding the outside light from her eyes to get a closer look. “Yup, that’s definitely Amity Colosseum.” She put her hand down. “But what the heck is it doing here!?”

“Bear in mind that the Vytal Festival Tournament isn’t too far away, Nora.” Ren replied.

“Well yeah, but isn’t it usually further away from the school?”

“Maybe Beochi somehow pulled it over to here.” Jaune suggested.

“He’s a tiny Beowolf robot thing! He would not be able to pull that!”

“We don’t know what he’s capable of, y’know.”

While team JNPR debated over the purpose of the colosseum, Ruby couldn’t help but notice that they weren’t the only people there.

Penny was a short distance away from them, also surveying the floating structure above them with a puzzled expression.

Ruby walked over to her. “Hey, Penny!”

Her gaze snapped over to Ruby at the mention of her name. “Oh! Salutations, Ruby!” She said with a smile and a polite wave.

Ruby gestured back up. “You, uh, confused about the colosseum too?”

Penny frowned and looked back up at it. “It doesn’t make any logical sense to be here...Especially with the fact that there’s no reasonable way to get in.”

She was right. There wasn’t any obvious entrance inside, and there didn’t seem to be any airships around the campus to fly up to any of the docking bays.

“Yeah...Even if I tried to use my semblance to get up there, I’m not sure I could get that far...”

Penny hummed thoughtfully. “Even if I had my swords, I’m not sure if they would be able to reach up there either.”

“Swords?” Ruby asked, before realising what Penny was implying. “Oh! Because of the strings, right?”

“Correct.” Penny said with a nod. “My initial aim was to see if I could use my swords to climb up to the colosseum. But your friend with the red hair seemed to be correct about that Beochi person confiscating our weapons.” She frowned. “My backpack wasn’t anywhere in the locker I was initially trapped in.”

“...You mean Scarlet, right?”

“Affirmative.” She pointed. “I just saw him and his friend with the coat heading that way not too long ago, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh, okay...” Ruby nodded. “Actually, speaking of which, have you seen the rest of my team anywhere?”

Penny hummed thoughtfully, putting a finger to her chin for a moment before snapping back to attention.

“I haven’t. I apologise.”

“No, it’s fine. I could ask Scarlet and Sage when I find them, anyway.”

“You two having fun?”

Ruby turned around at the sound of Jaune’s voice.

“O-oh!” She replied. “Sorry, I just noticed Penny over here and you guys seemed busy so-”

“It’s fine.”

Penny waved at the team. “Hello!”

“Hey.” Jaune turned back over to Ruby. “Nora and Ren are gonna show us what they were telling us about earlier. Coming?”

“Oh, yeah!” Ruby replied, turning over to see Penny. “Would you like to come with us?”

“I appreciate your offer Ruby, but I politely decline.” She replied. “I would like to survey more of the area myself, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.” She waved. “I’ll see you later then.”

Penny waved back as Ruby and team JNPR walked away from the floating colosseum.

“So...” Ruby turned over to Ren and Nora. “What is it you wanted to show us?”

“Well...Remember what Beochi said about not being able to leave?”

“If I’m remembering right,” Jaune replied. “He said something about seeing what he meant when we go outside. Not really sure what he meant by that...”

“Well, THIS is what he meant!”

The group had stopped walking. Nora was gesturing at the air in front of them, with Ren standing calmly beside her.

Everyone looked at them.

“Uh...” Ruby started. “...What are we looking at?”

Nora didn’t reply for a few seconds.

She looked over to Ren. “...Are we at the right spot?”

Ren looked closer at where Nora had pointed out. “...Yes, we are.”

Ruby gave them a confused look. “...Still not giving us any clues.”

“Well...” Nora pointed to a little further off where she was pointing earlier.

“Try to walk over here.”

Everyone was silent again.

Jaune gave her a sarcastic look. “...Really.”

“Really! Just do it! It’ll make sense, trust me!”

“Nora...” Pyrrha said. “It’s just an empty patch of land.”

“It ISN’T though!” Nora pointed more aggressively. “Just try to walk over there!”

Ruby was about to say something, when she noticed Ren giving the group a serious look. If Nora was making this up, he would usually be aiming that look towards her, but this time, he wasn’t.

Ruby sighed. “...If you say so...”

She took a few steps forward towards where Nora had pointed.

But just at where she was first pointing out earlier, she walked right into a wall.

Even though there wasn’t a wall there.

“Aah-!” Ruby recoiled back at the sudden contact, prompting Jaune and Pyrrha to jump back a little in surprise.

Ruby stopped.

_...Did that really just happen?_

Tentatively, she stuck her hand out.

Instead of going through the air like it should have, it hit a hard surface right where she had just walked into.

Disbelieving, she repeatedly tapped her hand against it, only to constantly meet what was blocking her path.

There was definitely something there.

“...What the…!?”

“You see?” Nora put her hand on her hip. “Told you it was important!”

Pyrrha walked over to Ruby to see if she was hurt. “Are you okay?”

Ruby rubbed a sore spot on her face from walking into the apparent invisible wall. “My forehead hurts...But other than that, I’m fine...”

Pyrrha turned her attention towards the invisible wall. “...What IS that?”

Jaune walked over to get a closer look. “...Seems like it’s some kind of forcefield made from hard light dust or something...” He knocked his hand against it a little. “...And a strong one at that.”

“That must have been what he was referring to earlier.” Ren gently ran his hand against the forcefield’s surface. “We have access to the outside area, but restricted to what’s under this forcefield.”

Ruby tensed up a little.

Jaune narrowed his eyes on the forcefield. “...Just how powerful IS that guy…!?”

“I think that’s better left undiscovered...”

Ruby shivered a little, but tried to stay optimistic.

“...W-well...There’s gotta be a dust crystal powering that thing, right?” She said.

Ren thought for a moment. “Well, going by the general laws as to how hard light dust is used and assuming the general size of the forcefield...There has to be a pretty big dust crystal or mechanism powering it.”

“Well, all we gotta do is destroy it!”

“I doubt that’ll be easy.” Jaune said. “Beochi has most likely thought ahead and hid it.”

“I know, but it’s just a matter of finding out where it is, right?” Ruby replied. “I mean, assuming we can find more weapons around the campus, all we have to do is find whatever is powering that forcefield and destroy it!” She pointed over at the forcefield. “Then the forcefield will be destroyed, and we can all leave!”

Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren all looked towards where Ruby was pointing.

It wasn’t as obvious before, but the area where the forcefield was did have a slight shimmer to it, like a mirage in a desert.

Ruby had an optimistic smile. “Does that sound good?”

Pyrrha nodded. “Yes, that’s a great idea.”

“Then that’s settled!” Ruby lightly tapped her fist against her palm, her silver eyes sparkling with determination. “That’ll be our mission! Finding that dust crystal and destroying the forcefield!”

“Destroying a dust crystal? HAH!” Nora laughed. “Now THAT’S something I can get behind!”

Ren smiled a little. “Easy, Nora. We still have to find it first.”

Nora deflated a little. “Aw...”

“We don’t have much of today left.” Jaune said. “So this will probably have to wait.”

Ruby stopped at what he had said and looked up at the sky. The blue was starting to be tinged with an orange hue, as if to forewarn the impending sunset.

“...Oh.”

“So, what should we do in the meantime?”

“I would suggest seeing how far this forcefield actually goes...” Ren turned his eye to the forcefield again, clutching the lotus in his hand a little tighter. “But I can already imagine that it covers the entire school. We would be going around in a circle.”

“But I guess we could look around some more.” Nora replied. “See if anything else’s different I guess.” She looked over at Ruby. “And maybe you might find wherever the hell the rest of your team is!”

“Of course...” Ruby said. Nora was right, she hadn’t seen the rest of team RWBY yet since the opening ceremony. “Yeah!”

“There’s also the rest of Sun’s team,” Jaune added. “We haven’t seen them either. We might be able to spot them around here...”

It was at this point that Ruby remembered something Penny said earlier.

She pointed. “This way!”

Jaune stopped. “What?”

“What do you mean, what?”

“You just pointed a random direction and said ‘this way’.”

“Oh, sorry...” Ruby laughed awkwardly, realising she had forgotten to add context. “When I was talking to Penny, she said she saw them heading this way.”

“Oh, okay.” Jaune nodded as he realised. “...So does that mean we’re heading that way now?”

Ruby turned to face him, smirking a little. “Do you even need to ask?”

Jaune smirked back. “Touché.”

The two of them laughed, before Ruby turned back around and started leading the group in that direction. “Let’s go!”

She wasn’t sure what time it was, but Jaune was apparently right that it was starting to get late. The horizon was starting to transcend into a gradient of orange, as the blue sky started to slowly but surely darken.

As they passed the outside of the academy building, Ruby couldn’t help but feel that the silhouette of the school felt a lot more...Imposing than usual.

She didn’t know why – maybe it was because of the new regime that Beochi had enacted earlier today – but the academy felt...Different somehow.

Ruby was so absorbed in this that she walked right into someone in front of her.

“Aah-!” She said in alarm, as the person she bumped into spun around to face her.

“Whoa, hey! You should watch where you’re-!” His angered voice suddenly softened as soon as he realised who he was talking to. “...Oh.”

As soon as she heard the person’s voice, it didn’t take Ruby long to realise either.

“Sorry Scarlet, I didn’t see you there-!”

“It’s fine.” He said reassuringly, a stark contrast to his tone of voice earlier. “How are you doing? I was worried when you ran off like that...”

“You were worried about me-?”

Scarlet avoided the question. “Are you okay now?”

Ruby shrugged. “...I guess...”

He smiled a little. “That’s good.”

_Was he...Relieved?_

Before Ruby could ask, his smile started to fade as soon as the others caught up.

“Oh, hey!” Nora said with a smile. “Seems Ruby was right about heading this way. Where’s the other one?”

Scarlet didn’t say anything. He just glared.

Nora blinked, before discreetly leaning to Ren.

“Sheesh, I think I can see what Neptune meant now...”

“Nora, don’t be disrespectful…!” Ren replied in a hushed tone.

“And I’m right here.” A voice said, causing the two of them to jump.

Sage was walking up to the group calmly, his long jacket flowing a little behind him.

Scarlet looked over to Sage. “Well?”

He shook his head. “It’s just as bad as I thought. I wasn’t able to see how much it covered, but that forcefield covers a lot of the area here.”

“Wait,” Ruby turned to face him. “You guys found that forcefield too!?”

Sage nodded. “We did. I’m unsure how Beochi got the materials to create it, though.”

Jaune shrugged. “Dust isn’t that hard to get, y’know.”

“It’s not just that.” Scarlet replied coldly. “There is obviously some kind of mechanism keeping the forcefield active.” His eyes – or eye that he left uncovered – narrowed. “And who in their bloody right mind would give those materials to him?”

Jaune flinched back a little at Scarlet’s bitter reply. “Okay, I see your point...”

“That bitter attitude wasn’t necessary, Scar.” Sage said sternly. Scarlet tutted annoyedly in response.

“Well, uh...” Ruby said, deciding to swiftly change the subject. “Have either of you seen the rest of my team anywhere?”

Scarlet didn’t say anything. He just pointed behind her.

“Eh?”

“I mean,” He said. “You might want to look behind you.”

“Wait, wha-”

Before Ruby could turn around someone tackle-hugged her from behind.

Since this had happened earlier, it was easy to guess who it was.

“Yang!” Ruby exclaimed, hugging her back tightly.

“Thank goodness you’re okay!” Yang said happily. “I was sososo worried about you!”

“I was worried about you guys!”

“Well I am not letting my baby sister be upset! I am now making it my personal mission to make you feel better!”

“Wait, what are you-”

“Starting NOW!” Yang lightly tickled Ruby’s side.

“AHAHAH! Yang, no stoHOHOP IT!”

“I cannot fall back now!” Yang said in a mockingly stern voice, as if imitating an Atlesian military officer. “My mission has only just BEGUN!” She continued tickling her sides without any mercy.

“NohOHOHO! Please officer, have mercYYYY-!”

The two of them continued with this for a few more seconds, before Yang finally relented.

“Do you surrender?” She asked with a smirk.

Ruby was breathless and red in the face. “I surrender…!”

“Good.” She said with a smile, getting up and offering Ruby a hand to help her up. “At ease, soldier.”

Ruby nodded, and as Yang pulled her back up, she remembered the other people around her.

Scarlet smirked. “Well, you’re popular.”

“Ehehe...” Ruby laughed embarrassedly. “Yang has a very...Uh...Violent way of cheering me up...”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “Evidently.”

Yang shrugged. “Well it worked.” She shot a smirk at Ruby while wiggling her fingers threateningly. “And I may have to put it into use again if it doesn’t last~!

Ruby flinched back. “U-understood!”

It was at this point that she noticed that Blake and Weiss were there too.

“Guys!” She exclaimed, immediately running over and pulling them both into bear hug.

Both of them were surprised by this, but eventually hugged Ruby back.

“It’s good to see you.” Blake said calmly as Ruby pulled back.

“Are you doing okay?” Weiss asked. “The situation that that thing has put us in is not favourable.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ruby replied.

“‘Cause if you aren’t...” Yang wiggled her fingers again threateningly.

“YEAH I’M FINE.”

Scarlet smiled a little to himself.

“Anyway,” Sage said. “Scar and I are just going to head to our dorms. If there’s no need for further conversation with us, of course.”

Jaune shrugged. “That’s fine.”

The two of them started heading back inside the academy building, but Scarlet held back a little.

He gave Ruby a smile and a small wave. “I’ll see you in the morning, Ruby.”

Ruby nodded and waved back. “Yeah. See you.”

As Scarlet and Sage headed back inside, Ruby turned back over to the group – now with the addition of the rest of her team.

“Soooo...” Yang said questioningly. “Anything you guys find?”

“Well,” Ruby asked. “Did you guys find the forcefield?”

Yang blinked. “...The what?”

“Give me a second...” Ruby said, before telling them about the forcefield they had found earlier.

“There’s a forcefield around the academy?” Blake asked.

“Yeah.” Nora replied. “Ren and I found it earlier.”

“Yikes...” Yang replied.

“We had theorised that the forcefield was powered by a large dust crystal,” Ren explained. “But Scarlet had pointed out that it has to be kept active through some form of dust mechanism.”

“And then,” Pyrrha added. “There’s the fact that Beochi had access to these items at all.”

“Yeah.” Nora nodded. “If a tiny Beowolf robot whatever walked up to my counter and asked for this stuff, I would be a little fishy about it, y’know?”

“It may be a different story for whoever’s controlling him.” Blake said.

Ruby stopped. “Huh?”

“Think about it. Beochi may not be able to access these items on his own, but if there was someone controlling him, then they’d be able to get these materials pretty easily.”

“That’s a good point.” Jaune said. “I mean, I don’t think that a tiny Beowolf robot set this entire thing up alone. So there has to be someone controlling his actions, right?”

“Yeah. That’s right.” Blake nodded. “Or whoever created him at least.”

Ruby thought about this.

_Is there really someone controlling him? And...Whoever it is is responsible for setting this entire killing game scenario up?...This is confusing..._

“Let’s not focus on that for now.” Pyrrha said, giving Ruby a calm smile. “Tell them your plan, Ruby.”

“Me? Oh!” Ruby turned around to the rest of her team. “I was thinking earlier.” She looked over to Weiss. “Weiss, you know about dust. Whatever’s powering that thing has to be around here, right?”

“According to the general laws of how dust works...” Weiss said thoughtfully. “Yes, the dust mechanism keeping that forcefield active has to be in the academy somewhere.”

“Yeah! So that’ll be our mission!”

“...What will?”

Ren leaned over to her. “You forgot the context again.”

“Oh, sorry...” Ruby said before continuing. “Finding whatever the heck is powering that forcefield and destroying it! That’ll be our mission!”

Weiss thought for a moment. “...Technically...That does make sense. Good thinking, Ruby.”

“Aww, thanks BFF!”

“...No.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway,” Jaune cut in. “The only problem we have right now is finding it. We don’t know where this thing is, what it looks like, or if it even exists at all.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try!” Yang replied. “Like Weiss said, this thing has gotta be in the academy somewhere!”

“It’s just a matter of finding it and beating the crap outta it!” Nora seconded.

Yang pumped her fists. “Yeah! Now this woman’s speaking my language!”

“Then again,” Blake said, unsure. “Beochi might have taken this factor into account. It most likely will be very well hidden.”

“Pssh!” Yang waved her hand dismissively. “I can take anything that bastard’ll throw at me!”

Ruby nodded. “I know this seems risky, but it’s the only option we have. And it it works,” An optimistic smile crept onto her face. “We can all get out of here without anybody killing each other!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Ruby smiled. “Sound good? Then let’s get started-!”

“Hahaha, I don’t think so, sis.” Yang replied with a gentle tap on Ruby’s head. “It’s getting late. You need some rest.”

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. “I think we all need some rest.”

“Ohh, yeah.” Nora replied, with an exaggerated yawn. “I need to hit the sack REAL bad...”

“Yeah, good point...” Ruby replied. “It IS starting to get late...”

The sun was almost set, and the sky’s blue had started to darken into a navy-esque purple shade.

“Well, if everyone’s done here,” Jaune said. “I think the best thing to do is head to our dorms. Don’t you agree?”

Ren nodded. “We can further discuss our plans in the morning. But for now, I think we need some rest.”

“Yeah, good call.”

Pyrrha gave them a warm smile. “Then that’s settled. Shall we?”

Ruby opened the door to her dorm room and flicked the lights on.

_Is this plan going to work?_ She thought as she headed into the bathroom to quickly brush her teeth. _I mean, it’s plausible, but will it work?_

She walked out of the bathroom, quickly hanging her hood on a peg on the wall.

_But what if we don’t find this thing? Blake has a point, Beochi could have hidden it really well...Will we have to go along with this killing game after all?_

She shook her head, forcing this thought out of her mind.

_No. We aren’t gonna go along with this._

She turned the lights off and got under the covers.

“Just you wait, Beochi.” She said to herself. “Just you wait.”

Beochi was sitting at a desk in his office, swirling a red liquid in a glass in his hand when the door opened.

“There you are!” He said with slight annoyance. “About damn time you got here!”

“Cut the crap, Beochi.” The person snapped. “You technically don’t have authority over me.”

“Jeez...” Beochi tutted, putting his glass down. “Anyway, what’d you find?”

“They’re close.” They looked to the side thoughtfully. “This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought...”

“Yeah. No shit.” Beochi drummed his claws on the desk. “They’ve been in their teams for a while, they’re obviously gonna object to killing each other. Even if it’s to leave.”

“Then we’re going to need to give them a push in the right direction...”

He stopped. “What, you thought of the first motive already?”

They hummed. “Not yet. I’ll let you know when I do. We’re getting the motive out tomorrow.”

“That fast?”

“Of course. Can’t let this game you and I set up go to waste, now can we?”

A smile crept across their face.

“Let’s get this show on the road.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OwO chapter 1 is a thing now  
Honestly, it took ages to post this on Tumblr because I made the mistake of having one scene with at least every character, but hey-ho.  
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! <3  
Oh, and please give kudos and comments! (first death predictions are very much welcome!!!)


	5. A Push in the Right Direction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today marks the second day of the killing game.  
But as Ruby tries to continue her plan to find the mechanism powering the forcefield, tensions suddenly reach a boiling point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I've had to move over from Tumblr.  
Hopefully the next chapter won't be too long!

DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

“Huh- wha-?”

Ruby pulled herself up from the covers, half expecting to look down and see Weiss telling her to wake up or she’ll be late for class.

But then she remembered she wasn’t in a room with Weiss.

And that she wasn’t even in her bunk-bed.

And that she wasn’t usually woken up by a doorbell.

And that she and her friends were put into a scenario where they had to kill each other to leave.

The doorbell kept ringing.

DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

“SIIIIIIIS!” Yang called out from the other side of the door, not slowing down for a second on the doorbell. “WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD!”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Ruby got up to her feet, still a little disoriented and half-asleep, before pulling her hood on, quickly fixing her hair and opening the door.

Yang stopped and stepped back, as if surprised by how quickly she opened the door.

There was a pause.

Yang raised her hand up and rang the doorbell again.

“OKAY I GET IT.” Ruby exclaimed. “Can you PLEASE stop ringing the doorbell!?”

“Alright, alright. Just wanted to make sure you were fully awake is all.” Yang replied with a devious smile. “So, you coming?”

“Coming?”

“Downstairs! To the dining hall. Weiss and Blake are down there. Team JNPR too! Ren’s making tea I think...” Yang put her hand to her chin. “It’ll give you a chance to go over your plan and get some more ideas.”

“Plan?” Ruby asked, before remembering the idea she had the night before. “Oh, the plan! With the forcefield!”

“Yeah, that. Also, after everything that happened yesterday, you need to relax.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow. “Kinda hard to relax when there’s a tiny Beowolf robot thing trying to get us to kill each other.”

“...Touche. Are you coming or not?”

“Yeah, yeah. Hold on.”

Ruby quickly fixed her hair and adjusted her hood, before stepping out of her room and closing the door.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“It’s about time you guys showed up!” Nora called out, waving from the table.

“Yeah, yeah...” Ruby shyly flicked some of her hair behind her ear. “Did I miss anything?”

Weiss shrugged. “You didn’t.”

One of the many tables in the dining hall had been set up for them; with Team JNPR on one side, and Blake, Weiss and two empty chairs on the other. A Mistrali-style teapot was placed near the top end of the table, and eight small cups had been laid out at each person’s place.

“Whoa,” Yang said, impressed, as her and Ruby made their way to sit down. “Did you get all of this stuff from the kitchen?”

Ren nodded. “Yes, there are an array of supplies in the kitchen in order to keep us from malnourishment.”

“Huh. For someone who wants us to die, they sure want to keep us alive.”

“You sure that’s what he wants?” Jaune asked. “I mean, if Beochi wanted to kill us, why would he bother with putting us in this ‘killing game’ thing? Wouldn’t he have just gotten his hands, or claws, or whatever they are, dirty himself?”

“I don’t think any of us are sure of what he wants.” Blake replied.

“But Jaune DOES make a good point.” Weiss pointed out. “His objective isn’t for all of us to die, it’s for us to go along with whatever this killing game is supposed to be.”

“But we aren’t!” Ruby said hopefully. “We just gotta wait until help arrives. I mean, the authorities or the Atlesian guard or whatever are bound to notice at some point! All we gotta do is wait it out until they arrive.”

“That’s if Beochi doesn’t, y’know, try to make us by force.” Yang said, tracing along the rim of her cup with her finger.

“Huh?”

“Think about it. He obviously wants us to play this killing game, but right now we don’t want to. Who’s to say he isn’t gonna throw something in to make us try to kill someone?”

“What, like some kind of motive?” Nora asked.

“Yeah, like a motive. He’ll probably say something like...Oh, I don’t know…‘whoever kills someone first gets a lifetime supply of pancakes’.”

Nora’s ears perked up.

Ren sighed. “Nora, it’s just an analogy.”

“Aw...”

“But you see what I mean?” Yang continued. “Since we’re so against killing each other right now, he’s most likely gonna give us some kind of incentive to try and kick-start the game or something like that. I mean, he went to all this trouble, so I doubt he’d want his efforts to go to waste.”

“Yeah, well incentive or not,” Ruby said determinedly. “We’re not gonna kill each other! I mean, we’re friends! We’ve been through a lot together! Sure, team SSSN, Penny, Emerald and Mercury only got here not too long ago, but we still trust each other, right?”

“Of course.” Jaune said, quickly shoving his scroll into his pocket. “I mean, it’s not like he’s gonna say some kind of trigger word that makes us want to kill someone else, right?”

“Exactly.” Pyrrha seconded. “No matter what he tries, he cannot tear apart the bonds we already have.”

“Yeah!” Ruby smiled.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Ren lightly tapped against the teapot with his forefinger. “Would you two like anything to drink?”

“O-oh! Yes, please!” Ruby nodded.

Yang gave a thumbs up. “Yeah, same here.”

Ren smiled a little, before pouring some tea into Ruby and Yang’s cups. Ruby had almost immediately lifted her cup to her mouth when Ren raised his hand.

“Ah.” He warned swiftly. “It’s still very hot.”

“Oh.” Ruby replied, taking a few seconds to blow a little on her tea in the hope of cooling it down.

“Does that even work?” Nora asked skeptically.

Blake shrugged. “It can.”

After a few more seconds of blowing, Ruby drank a little of her tea, before sighing and putting her cup down.

“Ahh...Thanks, I really needed that.”

Ren nodded. “No problem.”

“So back to the matter at hand.” Jaune said, raising his finger. “Your plan. To disable the forcefield surrounding the academy, right?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, if we can find what’s powering it.”

“Going by what Scarlet said last night, it has to be kept active by some kind of mechanism using hard light dust or something.” Weiss added. “Hard light dust is manufactured directly in Atlas and is pretty difficult to obtain, so I’m mainly confused as to how that thing got it...”

“Well, Blake did say that there had to be someone controlling him, right?” Nora asked, which Blake confirmed with a nod. “Maybe whoever’s controlling him got it from the SDC.”

Weiss’ eyes narrowed a bit when Nora brought up her family’s dust company, before quickly softening as she continued.

“Regrettably, you do have a point...” She said thoughtfully. “Beochi appears to run on some form of artificial intelligence. Someone who had the Lien to create something on that level must have enough Lien to make the mechanism powering the forcefield.”

Ren nodded. “That might be true-”

“Or maybe...” Jaune raised a finger up. “They stole it.”

Everyone stopped to look over at him. “What!?”

“Think about it.” He continued. “Sure, maybe they did have the Lien. But given that they’re using it to force us into whatever this killing game is supposed to be, it makes more sense that they just stole the dust, parts, and blueprints to put this whole thing together.”

Weiss shook her head. “That’s impossible! The Atlas security would have noticed all that going missing!”

Jaune shrugged. “Maybe they had a link on the inside, I don’t know! Point is they had some way to get all of this stuff! Who’s to say that they didn’t play dirty?”

Pyrrha hummed thoughtfully. “It would have been an extreme risk, but it sounds plausible...”

“We don’t know for sure right now, though.” Blake replied. “And it doesn’t look like we have a way of proving it.”

“Yeah, but why are we focusing so hard on the ‘how’?” Yang asked. “Y’know, when we should be focusing on the ‘where’.”

“As in where the heck this thing could be?” Nora asked.

“Exactly!”

“Hm...” Ruby thought for a bit. “There’s really only one place that comes to mind for me...”

“Where?” Jaune asked.

“I know it’s pretty obvious, but...”

Nora clicked her tongue. “...Well, that was a total bust.”

The elevator that usually took you to the top of Beacon Tower was completely boarded up.

“I’m sorry, it was the first place I thought of!” Ruby said defensively.

“Well, it makes sense,” Ren agreed, fiddling with the faded lotus flower in his hand.

“Yeah, but we can’t get inside.” Jaune gestured at the barricade blocking the elevator.

“That unfortunately means we can’t exactly check under the school building either...”

“Aaaahhh!” Yang cried out and threw her head back in frustration. “Dammit!”

“No need to get worked up-” Pyrrha said, trying to calm her down.

“There IS a need to get worked up!” Yang argued, her eyes flaring red a little. “We can’t get to the tower, we can’t get to the basement, and there’s nowhere else I can think of where the little bastard would hide a dust machine!” She growled and clenched her fists in frustration.

“Oh, can’t get in there either?”

Everyone stopped and spun around to find that team CFVY had suddenly appeared behind them.

“AAAH WHEN DID YOU GET HERE!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“We’ve been here.” Fox continued. “For the past...Uh...” He quickly turned to Coco. “Cocohowlonghavewebeenstandinghere?”

She shrugged. “I dunno, three minutes-?”

“Three minutes!” He turned back over to them. “We’ve been here for the past three minutes.”

“Yeah, we tried the elevator yesterday.” Yatsuhashi pointed at the boarded up elevator. “For some reason, Beochi felt the need to barricade the entrance.”

“Maybe he just really doesn’t want us to get into the tower.” Jaune suggested.

“Probably.”

“Wait,” Yang asked. “Yatsu, couldn’t you have just, like...Ripped the barricade off?”

Yatushashi gave her a deadpan expression. “I don’t see you trying.”

Yang stopped. “Uuuhhh...”

“And besides, I already tried.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway,” Velvet started to ask. “What do you need to get to the tower for? After what Beochi said yesterday, I doubt that Ozpin is going to be in there.”

“We weren’t looking for Ozpin!” Ruby replied.

“Yeah, what were we expecting,” Jaune started sarcastically. “To find him sitting at his desk, sipping his mug of coffee or hot chocolate or...Whatever the hell’s in that mug?”

“I think it’s coffee,” Fox added. “It explains how he’s able to deal with so much of team CRDL’s BS-”

“Wait a second!” Ruby cut him off. “Fox, you just made me realise something!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Realise what?”

“Where are they?”

“Who, team CRDL?”

“Yeah! I know they’re total bullies, but...Where the heck are they?”

Fox was just about to reply, but stopped. The rest of the group exchanged confused glances with each other.

“That’s...Actually a good point.” He said.

“Yeah,” Velvet added. “There were loads of teams from across Remnant at the academy for the Vytal Tournament. But now,” She started counting the teams on her hand. “We have us, you guys, team SSSN, two more people from Haven, and that girl from Atlas.”

“And that number is a definite far cry from everyone that was here before.”

“Exactly!” Ruby said. “So where the heck are they!?”

“We can’t be sure for now...” Yatsuhashi put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “But we should hope that they’re somewhere safer than this.”

“Except for team CRDL.” Fox added bluntly.

“Fox.”

Fox shrugged in response. “What? They’re pricks.”

“Anyway,” Velvet continued. “If you aren’t looking for Ozpin, then what’re you doing trying to get in?”

“Oh, uh,” Ruby replied. “It’s just part of the plan.”

“Plan?” Coco echoed, perplexed.

Team CFVY collectively gave her a confused expression.

Weiss leaned over to Ruby. “...I don’t think you told them about your plan.”

“O-oh, sorry!” Ruby continued. “Well, you know the forcefield, right?”

This earned them another collective confused expression.

Jaune gave them a disbelieving look. “...Don’t tell me they don’t know about the forcefield either.”

Ren sighed. “Evidently, they don’t…”

“Okay, less talky-talky.” Coco waved her hand dismissively. “More explainy-explainy!”

“Is that even a word-?”

“Can one of you PLEASE just translate?”

“Right, right, okay!” Ruby said. “Uh...How do I put this simply-?”

“There’s a hard-light dust powered forcefield surrounding the academy.” Blake answered, completely deadpan.

“Blake!”

“What? They needed to know.”

“Waitwaitwait,” Coco replied. “A _forcefield_?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” Ren nodded. “Nora and I found it yesterday.”

“Yeah, and according to what that Sage guy said last night,” Nora seconded. “It surrounds the whole building.”

Yatsuhashi’s eyes narrowed in concern. “That sounds bad...”

“Wait, which one’s Sage again?” Fox asked.

“That guy in team SSSN.” Ruby replied. “Y’know, the green one?”

Fox gave her a completely deadpan expression.

It took Ruby a few seconds to realise why.

“O-oh, sorry…!”

Yang decided to pick it back up. “The one that sounds like he read an entire encyclopedia at age five?”

“Oooohhhh.” Fox recalled. “That guy.”

Yang shrugged. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did, though.”

Ruby still looked embarrassed at her earlier comment. “Sorry about what I said earlier...”

“It’s fine.” Fox replied casually.

“Though I’m surprised none of you have found it.” Nora continued. “I mean, it's right outside! It's massive, it's not like you can-” She stopped and trailed off when she noticed Fox out of the corner of her eye. “Miiiiiisssssssss...”

“No, go ahead.” Fox replied with a smug glare. “_Finish that sentence_.”

“Fox, please!” Velvet snapped.

Fox laughed nonchalantly in response. “Velvet, I’m just messing around.”

Her ears folded over in irritation. “You’d better be...”

“Okay, so there’s a forcefield surrounding the academy.” Coco affirmed, adjusting her sunglasses a little. “What’s that got to do with the tower?”

“Well, when we were talking about it with him and Sage last night,” Ruby answered. “Scarlet figured there was some kind of mechanism powered by hard-light dust keeping it active.”

“And you...Assumed it was in the tower?”

“Kinda...”

“It makes some sense,” Yatsuhashi replied. “As it is at the centre of the academy building. And it is where the beacon for the CCT is.”

“Actually speaking of,” Coco whipped her scroll out and began tapping on it. “There’s no signal.”

Ruby stopped in surprise. “Really?”

“Look.” She turned her scroll around to show her. The symbol in the corner of the screen which would usually be displaying how many bars of signal there are was completely empty. “Nothing. Nope. Nada.”

“Maybe Beochi put some kind of jammer up,” Weiss suggested. “To stop us from contacting the authorities directly.”

Ruby shook her head nervously. “That’s not good...”

Pyrrha, who had been silent up to this point, decided to comfort her.

“I wouldn’t worry. The authorities would have noticed something as large-scale as this by now.” She had a reassuring smile. “I doubt that we’ll be stuck in this game for much longer.”

Ruby eventually nodded. “...Y-yeah...”

“What do we do now?” Blake asked. “We know it’s not the tower, and we can’t get into the basement either.”

“Actually,” Yang started. “Have any of us actually **been** into the basement? Before all this I mean.”

Coco shook her head. “Nope. You have to input some kinda code to get down to that floor. God knows what’s in there...”

Yang shrugged. “Could be in there.”

“But then we have to figure out what that code is.” Ren answered. “And we don’t have Ozpin, or Goodwitch, or any of the teachers here to tell us.”

“So what’re we-”

“GUUUUUYYYYYYYYSSSSSS!!!!!”

“Huh?” The twelve of them stopped and turned around.

Sun was sprinting through the hall towards them. He stopped when he got close enough and started panting to get his breath back.

“What is it?” Ruby asked.

Sun raised a finger up. “Gimmieaminute...” He said breathlessly. “I’vejustbeenrunningforatleastfiveminutesstraighttryingtofindyou...”

Ruby stepped back. “What!?”

Sun took a deep sigh and looked back up, before finally noticing team CFVY were also there.

“Oh, and you guys are here too. Bonus.”

“Sun, can you just tell us what’s going on?” Pyrrha asked.

“Well, uh...” He said. “There’s kinda an emergency.”

“Emergency!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“Kinda! It’s not REALLY an emergency but it also kinda is- how the hell am I supposed to word this…?” He got back on point. “We just really need your help!”

“Wait, ‘we’!?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty urgent! Come on!”

“But we can’t do that!” Penny argued. “It’s not right!”

Scarlet sighed. “I’m just telling the truth. It’s up to you whether you accept it or not.”

Sun, followed closely by teams RWBY, JNPR and CFVY, arrived at the courtyard near the statue at the front of the academy building. The rest of the group were there, and it appeared something was going on.

Scarlet growled under his breath and put his hand to his head in annoyance. “Perfect...”

“Oh hey, you guys finally arrived.” Mercury addressed the group. “What the hell took you so long?”

“Hey, I sprinted for at least five minutes straight trying to find them!” Sun argued.

“And what exactly were they doing?”

“Something about a forcefield, a dust mechanism and the tower.” Fox answered with a shrug. “Which we can’t even get inside.”

“Cool.”

Penny turned around to face Ruby.

“Oh! Ruby! Perfect timing!” She pointed over at Scarlet. “Your friend started saying some very bad things...”

“I’m being honest.” Scarlet replied coldly.

“Bullshit!” Neptune exclaimed. “Like hell you are!”

“Guys, calm down-” Sage tried to say, but was cut off.

“Oh GOD, what did he say this time!?” Yang asked angrily.

“Oh, great...” Coco muttered, pushing her sunglasses up a little.

“Guys, guys!” Ruby said desperately, trying to act as the peacekeeper. “Penny, what’s going on?”

“He started saying a lot of bad things.” Penny answered.

“What’d he say?”

“He said that there’s no point trying to escape!”

“WHAT!?” Teams RWBY, JNPR and CFVY simultaneously exclaimed.

Ruby turned over to Scarlet, who bitterly rolled his eyes.

“Think about it.” He said. “We’ll be able to survive if we stay here without killing each other.”

“What, and take Beochi’s rule lying down!?” Yang shouted back.

“We’re not taking it lying down. I never said we were killing each other, learn to clean your ears out.”

“Scarlet, what’re you saying!?” Ruby asked, disbelieving of what she just heard.

“You heard me.” Scarlet replied, completely cold in his delivery. “That there’s no point in trying to escape the academy.”

Ruby still couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“He’s been saying this bullcrap for a while now...” Sun explained. “Claiming that it was the truth or something. Penny was trying to convince him otherwise, so I decided to try and get you before it turned into a full-blown screaming match.”

“It’s NOT a claim…!” Scarlet argued, some heat entering his tone.

“Scar, calm down-!” Sage attempted to negotiate.

“**THIS DOESN’T INVOLVE YOU!**” Scarlet snapped back, in an unnaturally bitter tone.

Sage took a step back in surprise.

“He’s never argued with him like that before…!” Sun muttered in amazement.

“Hey, that was uncalled for!” Jaune challenged.

Scarlet turned over. “Oh, you really think so?”

Jaune growled a little and started to walk over.

Pyrrha grabbed his arm to stop him. “Jaune, don’t-!”

Jaune brushed her hand off. “Sorry, I need to do this.”

He stormed over to him, prompting Penny to dart over to Ruby’s side.

Scarlet nonchalantly placed his hand on his hip and gave him a cold stare.

“I know things seem bad now,” Jaune explained. “But things will get better, hopefully! The Atlas Military will-”

“Oh, the Atlas Military will show up? If that’s the case...” He spun around and gestured at their surroundings. “Then _where. The fuck. Are they._”

“They’re...Uh...” Jaune attempted to come up with something. “...Probably busy with-”

“The entire academy is on lockdown and the teachers are missing. If I were head of the Atlas Military, that would be at the top of my list.” He pointed towards the empty sky. “But they aren’t here.”

Ruby was about to interject, but realised he had a point.

_Yeah, this should be their top priority...So why aren’t they here?_

“Face it, Arc.” Scarlet continued. “Nobody knows what’s going on. Nobody’s coming to help us. Hell,” He laughed bitterly. “They’re probably in fucking Vacuo for all we know!”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t try!” Jaune argued.

“Oh really? How do you suggest we do that?” Scarlet asked sarcastically. “We have no signal, there’s a massive forcefield around the academy, but by all means!” He mocked. “Give us your answers.”

“Being pessimistic isn’t gonna solve anything!” Jaune desperately tried to argue. “We just gotta...Have hope or something!”

Scarlet’s eyes narrowed in frustration.

“Hope…?” He echoed, before suddenly laughing coldly.

His laugh seemed to make the already tense atmosphere even darker.

He walked over to Jaune with an evil smirk.

“Want to know what I think of your ‘hope’?

Before Jaune could reply, Scarlet suddenly kicked him in the side. Hard.

“Jaune-!” Ruby exclaimed in shock.

Jaune tried to get up, but Scarlet stomped on his chestplate to pin him down.

“Scar, PLEASE-!” Sage tried to get his attention, but Scarlet ignored him.

“Shut the fuck up and listen to me, Arc.” He hissed, applying more pressure on his chest. “Your ‘hope’ is bullshit. We don’t have any. There’s no point in trying to escape.”

Jaune tried to reply, but due to the force on his chest, all that came out was a strained cough.

“Scarlet, stop it!” Ruby pleaded desperately. “You’re hurting him!”

Scarlet stopped for a few seconds when he heard her. Jaune decided to use this as a distraction and shove Scarlet’s foot off of him.

“What the fu-!?” He crashed to the pavement when Jaune pushed him over. “NGH-!”

Jaune managed to pull himself back up.

“Scarlet, you’re taking this too far.” He reprimanded. “You can’t just give up like this!”

“Grr...” Scarlet pulled himself back to his feet. “Who said I was…?”

“You literally just said that! You basically said we need to take this sitting down!”

“All I said was that there’s no point in trying to escape. Because there isn’t. Your blind optimism just translated it otherwise.”

“Blind optimism!?” Jaune exclaimed. “You’re one to talk with your blind pessimism!”

“You son of a…!”

Scarlet threw a punch in his direction. Jaune anticipated and dodged it, before punching him in the face himself.

“Guys, stop it!” Ruby pleaded, but neither of them were listening.

Scarlet staggered back from the punch, before charging back over. The two continued trading blows and catching each other’s attacks.

None of the others could do anything to stop them. They just looked on in horror as the fight went on.

Suddenly, one of the speakers nearby buzzed to life.

“Ahem!” Beochi’s voice crackled out of the speaker. “Uh, testing? Testing?”

Scarlet and Jaune stopped, as the group looked in the direction of the speaker.

“Ah! Perfect!” He continued. “I can see that you’re apparently...Busy...With something, but I have an announcement to make! Head over to the amphitheatre on the double! All of you!”

The speaker hummed for a few more seconds before dying out.

“An announcement…?” Ruby echoed questioningly.

Scarlet growled under his breath, still in pain from the blows he received from Jaune. “Anything to get the fuck out of this...” He strutted off towards the academy building angrily.

“Wh- hey!” Jaune called out, also hurt from the fight. “Get the hell back here!”

But Scarlet was either ignoring him or was too far away to hear him, as he continued towards the academy.

Sage sighed in resignation. “I’d...Better go after him...” He turned over to Jaune. “Sorry about that.”

Jaune shrugged. “Don’t worry. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Mmhm...” He nodded halfheartedly, before running after Scarlet to the building.

Ruby and Pyrrha immediately went to Jaune’s side.

“Are you okay!? Did he hurt you!? Do you need me to help you walk back!?”

“I’m fine. Mostly...” Jaune replied. “Thankfully, it doesn’t look like he gave me any fractures. Ehe...”

Penny looked over to him guiltily. “It was my fault for provoking him. I’m very sorry!”

“It wasn’t your fault either.” He reassured. “I was the one who stood up to him.”

“Though what on earth was he thinking, saying that?” Velvet asked. “We can’t just give up...”

Fox whispered something to Coco about needing a play-by-play, to which Coco whispered a long account back.

His blank eyes widened. “God...”

“Tch...” Mercury shook his head, before looking over at Sun and Neptune. “Your teammate’s fucked.”

The pair didn’t reply, just looked at each other in resigned agreement.

“Shouldn’t we go see what this announcement thing’s about?” Emerald asked, pointing to the speaker that just addressed them earlier.

“Hm...” Ren said thoughtfully. “We might have to.”

Ruby looked over to Jaune. “Are you sure you don’t need any help walking?”

“Ruby, just ‘cause I’m not as good a fighter as the majority of the others here doesn’t mean that I’m totally weak.” He replied with a smirk. “I’ll be fine.”

Ruby gulped. “As long as you’re sure...”

“Oh, good!” Beochi clapped his hands together happily. “Everyone came for the announcement!”

“You did just blare that you wanted us out of a speaker.” Emerald replied.

Ruby looked over to Scarlet, who was standing near the corner of the room. A lot of the others – with the exception of Sage – had purposely decided to try not to stand too close to him. The sight alone made her uneasy.

“Well, duh.” Beochi answered. “I don’t think any of you would wanna miss this!”

His words cut her train of thought. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, this is something you wanna hear!...Actually, two things.”

“Two things?” Jaune questioned.

“Firstly, it appears that some of you have found my weapon drops!”

“Weapon...Drops?” Ruby echoed.

“Eeeeeeyup!” Beochi nodded. “Y’know when you’re playing a zombie game and you find a weapon on the ground? That’s basically what this is!”

Ruby recalled some of the events of the earlier day.

“Is that what that cleaver was? The one we found in the kitchen?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Velvet added. “And those kunai that Yatsu and I found?”

“Exactly!” Beochi answered chirpily. “I mean, why ask you guys to kill each other, without actually giving you a method of killing each other? That’s like asking a chef to bake a pie without giving the poor guy a recipe book!”

“That’s completely different!” Yang argued.

“Really? How?”

“Because that example doesn’t involve murder!”

“Aaaand saying that magic word brings me to point número dos!”

“What,” Yang asked. “‘murder’?”

“Of course!” He nodded. “That’s why you’re here, after all.”

“But I already said!” Ruby challenged. “We’re not going to kill each other!”

“Oh really?” He gave her a condescending glare. “Good to see you still have your fire, Little Red.” He flashed her a sharp-toothed grin. “So that’s why I’m giving you all a motive.”

Ruby froze. “Motive?”

She recalled something Yang said earlier that day.

“_But you see what I mean?” Yang continued. “Since we’re so against killing each other right now, he’s most likely gonna give us some kind of incentive to try and kick-start the game or something like that. I mean, he went to all this trouble, so I doubt he’d want his efforts to go to waste.”_

“So...” Ruby asked. “You’re going to say something to try and get us to kill each other?”

“Of course!” He replied. “I mean, I set this whole thing up, and you don’t even try to kill each other! The closest thing we had was just now,” he glanced at Scarlet and Jaune. “And nobody even got injured! Points for trying, though.”

Ruby glared back at him. “Whatever! You can’t say anything that’ll make us to kill each other! That’s a fact!” She gestured around at the others around her. “We’re all friends! We work together! And nothing is gonna change that!”

“Ya think so?” Beochi asked. “That’s why I’ve decided to use your so-called close-knit bond to my advantage.

His words made Ruby take a step back.

“Wh-what…?”

“Yup!” Beochi smiled. “I’m introducing a two for the price of one motive!”

His yellow eye flashed with an evil glare.

“If someone manages to kill someone and get away with it within the next 24 hours, they – and anyone here of their choice – will be allowed to leave the academy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand that's all the chapters moved over! Yay!  
By the way, I wrote Fox's dialogue after finding out what he was like in After the Fall. He's probably gonna be the most fun character to write now.  
But yeah, we have a motive now! And let's just say the first death isn't too far away either~  
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!  
Please leave comments and kudos!


	6. First Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the announcement of the first motive, Amity Colosseum is open for the students to explore.  
Beochi's speech had shaken Ruby a little, but it didn't matter. Because no-one was gonna die.  
...Right?

“Wh...” Ruby started, in shock. “What!?”

“Didn’t you hear me, Little Red?” Beochi replied. “I know I don’t have a mic, but I’m pretty sure you heard me.”

“So let me get this straight,” Mercury asked. “One of us gets away with murder within the time limit, and we get to leave with someone else?”

“Yup! If you want to get out of here with your soulmate, or your dearest friend, or whoever you want, you just gotta kill someone! But it’ll only happen when someone dies within the next 24 hours!”

He was met with resounding silence.

“...What?” He asked. “You aren’t gonna try to correct me and say ‘IF someone dies’?” He looked over at Ruby. “You seem to have lost your fire, Little Red.”

“Shut up…Shut up!” Ruby exclaimed. “No matter what you do, nobody’s going to die!”

“Oooohohoho! Spoke too soon, apparently!” He cackled. “But I do have something to say other than that that you might be interested in.”

“Huh? What?” Yang asked.

“Y’know the big floaty arena thing? Well, it’s open now!”

“What?” Ruby asked.

“You’ve opened Amity Colosseum?” Jaune asked.

“You got it, Blondie!” Beochi replied chirpily. “There could be some weapons in there – hell, it could be the new site of a murder for all you know!”

“So what,” Emerald asked. “Do we have airships now? Because last I checked the only way you could get up to Amity Colosseum is with an airbus.”

“Good question. And the answer is...Nope.”

“Then how do you expect us to get up there?”

“Oh, you’ll see if you decide to go up there.”

“God, your whole thing of being ambiguous is pissing me off!” Nora cursed.

“Aaww, that’s unfortunate!” Beochi whimpered, in mock sadness. “All I want you to do is get along...”

It didn’t take long for him to drop the act. “Oh, and kill each other. How could I forget?”

“Th-that’s not gonna happen!” Ruby argued, but with a tinge of uncertainty in her voice.

“Oh Little Red, your charm’s never gonna get old.” Beochi smirked. “But I wonder if you’ll say that when someone actually dies…!” He cackled evilly. “But oh well, that’s all I had to say. Sayonara~!” He jumped down behind the podium and disappeared with a smug wave.

“Tch...” Mercury said to himself, before turning and heading to the door. “Fuck this noise.”

Emerald followed after him out of the room. “Yeah, we’re staying out of this bullshit.”

Penny hummed nervously to herself, twirling a strand of her hair with her finger.

“I...Need to leave now.” She said, quickly walking out of the door.

Coco growled in annoyance, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. “Ugh, I’ll never like that thing...I need a drink.” She turned over to Yatsuhashi. “Do you know if there’s ground coffee in the kitchen?”

“I assume so.” He answered.

“Cool. I’m going. Anyone wanna tag?”

“If you’re getting coffee then I’m coming too.” Fox replied without skipping a beat. “I don’t wanna get involved with any of Beochi’s bullcrap.”

“Same here.” Velvet seconded, before turning over to her remaining teammate. “Yatsu?”

“Well,” He replied with a shrug. “I guess I’m coming too.”

“Nice. I call dibs on a flat white.” Coco smiled, as her team headed out of the door.

The others just looked at the door for a few seconds before Nora spoke up.

“At least someone’s being optimistic.”

Yang shrugged. “I dunno, I’m kinda curious about what’s going on with the colosseum.”

“If you want to investigate, then I’m happy to join you.” Ren replied.

“Yeah, I’ll also come if you want.” Pyrrha added.

“Mmm, I dunno.” Nora said with a shrug. “I’m not really sure about anything coming from that thing’s mouth.”

“Yeah,” Sun seconded. “What if the entire colosseum is rigged with dust bombs that’ll go off as soon as someone steps in?”

“I’m...” Sage answered, his eyes narrowing a little. “Not too sure about that.”

“Whatever, I’m not taking the risk.”

“Me neither,” Neptune added. “Hey, we could investigate the rest of the academy on our own together!”

“Yeah! Junior Detectives!”

Sage sighed. “You’re _really_ doing that again?”

“Whatever Sage, you coming or not?”

“I-” Sage cut himself off, briefly turning around as if to ask Scarlet if he also wanted to join them.

Scarlet didn’t say anything. He just kept his back turned to the rest of the group.

Sage sighed and turned back around. “Alright, I’ll come.”

“Hell yeah!” The two pumped their fists into the air. “Junior Detectives!”

“If you expect me to join in, I’m not going to.”

“Whatever team,” Sun turned around to the door. “Let’s go!”

He led the charge – or him and Neptune charging while Sage calmly walked after them – out of the door.

The remaining group were quiet before Yang broke the silence.

“Seriously,” She asked. “What even _is_ ‘Junior Detectives’?”

Blake laughed it off. “Honestly, I don’t know either.”

“So,” Pyrrha said. “Who’s all coming to the colosseum?”

“I am.” Ren replied.

“Same here.” Yang added.

“I’m not,” Nora said, followed by a yawn. “I need a nap.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, crazy robot Grimm shenanigans tire me out.”

“But shenanigans with regular Grimm don’t usually tire you out.”

“Whatever,” Nora dismissed her, heading for the door. “Later guys.”

“Honestly, after hearing about the motive,” Blake explained. “I just need some time to calm down. Luckily Beochi didn’t take any of my books from my dorm.”

“Ooh,” Yang said teasingly. “Is one of them your precious Ninjas of L-”

Blake elbowed her in the side.

“Ow! Hahah, I’m just messing around!” Yang turned over to Weiss. “What about you, Ice Queen?”

“You’re using that again? Whatever,” Weiss replied. “I think I might join team CFVY actually. I need something to drink.”

“That’s cool.” Yang then turned over to Ruby.

Ruby was rooted to the spot, her wide eyes fixed on where Beochi used to be. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed over. She hadn’t moved a single muscle since the announcement ended.

“...Sis?” Yang asked, trying to get her attention. “You okay there?”

Jaune was about to say something when, surprisingly, Scarlet spoke up instead.

“She needs some time.”

“I didn’t ask you.” Yang snapped back, before turning back over to Ruby again. “Some of us are headed up to the arena, do you wanna come?”

“We’ll follow in a few minutes.” Jaune replied. “I think that she-”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Scarlet cut him off. “She obviously needs some time. She might not even want to head up there anyway.”

“Hey!” Jaune argued. “We’re asking Ruby the question, not you!”

“And you’ve got a lot of nerve deciding what she does and doesn’t want after that stunt you pulled earlier.” Yang added. “So stay out of this!”

Scarlet tutted and turned away from them. “Just saying.”

Yang sighed, before turning back over to Ruby and Jaune. “Anyway, me, Pyrrha and Ren are gonna head. You wanna come?”

“U-um...” Ruby managed to say. “...I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Yeah,” Jaune agreed. “I’ll hang back too.”

“Okay, sure.” Yang said with a nod, before turning back over to Pyrrha and Ren. “Shall we?”

Pyrrha nodded, leading the three of them out of the room, leaving Ruby, Scarlet and Jaune alone in the amphitheatre.

Ruby had no idea what to say or think.

Yang was right. Beochi had decided to put in a motive. And the prize of being able to escape with someone else could be tempting enough to pay the price of getting away with murder.

But there’s no way that could happen, could it? It just couldn’t happen…Right?

“Hey space cadet, you in there?” Jaune asked, in a possible attempt to lighten the very tense mood.

It took a while for Ruby to reply. And when she did, her tone was a lot darker than usual.

“...Jaune.”

“Huh?”

“...Do you think...Someone will do it?”

“Wait, what!?” Jaune took a step back. “What the hell are you saying!?”

“Because now that Beochi’s given us a proper incentive...Someone might.”

“What the hell makes you say that!? You were just saying that we weren’t going to earlier!”

“Yeah, I know! It’s just that...” She stopped to think of something else to say, but threw her hands up in resignation. “Ugh, I don’t know!”

Jaune thought for a moment, trying to think of something to say.

What he didn’t anticipate was Scarlet leaving where he had been standing for the past few minutes and walking over to her.

“Wh- hey! What do you think you’re-!?”

“Relax.” He replied. “I just want to talk to her.”

Jaune, still doubting trusting Scarlet after the day’s previous events, reluctantly decided to relent.

Scarlet continued walking until he was in front of her and took a deep breath.

“Hey.”

Ruby, as if she had been snapped out of a trance, looked as if she had only just noticed him in front of her.

“Ah-!”

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. I just want to talk, okay?”

“Mm...” Ruby placed her hands firmly at her sides and looked down uneasily.

“Now...What makes you think someone will kill someone?”

She looked back up. “Huh?”

“I mean,” Scarlet continued, putting his hand to his chin as his glance trailed off to the corner of the ceiling, twirling the pointer finger of his other hand a little as if to articulate his point. “You were preaching that we weren’t going to only yesterday. And here you’re saying now that someone’s gonna die. So what gives?”

“Well...” Ruby fidgeted with her hood a little. “Beochi did just put out a motive.”

His gaze snapped back to her. “And that means someone will die for sure...Why?”

Ruby stopped. “What?”

“All he did was make a big speech at that podium. He didn’t exactly click his fingers and order someone to murder someone, did he?”

“Well yeah, but-”

“Exactly. Just because we have a motive now doesn’t mean anyone’s going to die.”

“I...Uh...I guess...” Ruby replied, starting to see his point. “But it does mean that someone’s more likely to take the bait now that we actually have some.”

“Hey, hold on. What’s making you say that?” Scarlet argued, glaring at her like a stern older brother telling off his younger sister for not giving a toy back. “What’s making you say that?”

“Well we have an incentive to kill someone now! Doesn’t that mean that there’s more of a chance that someone will die!?”

“That incentive doesn’t mean **shit**!”

Scarlet’s suddenly aggressive tone made Ruby step back a little.

Realising he might have upset her, he backtracked a little, softening his tone and uncomfortably turning his gaze to the wall.

“Sorry about that...I wasn’t intending to come off that way.”

Ruby slowly nodded, mumbling a quiet “mmhm” as if to forgive him.

“Point is,” Scarlet continued, turning his gaze back to her. “Nobody’s going to die.”

“But what if-”

“No buts.” He smiled a little, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Nobody’s going to die. I promise.”

Ruby recoiled back a little at the touch, but hearing him promise her was admittedly reassuring.

Jaune, who had been watching the whole thing, turned over to Scarlet.

“So what,” He asked. “You take back what you said earlier?”

“I’m not taking back what I said earlier.” Scarlet replied coldly, glaring at him a little. “I said there’s no point in escaping, I never said we were to kill each other.”

Jaune muttered something and folded his arms.

“Anyway,” Scarlet turned back to Ruby, his tone softening again. “I promise you. Nobody’s going to die. Got that?”

Ruby didn’t reply for a bit, as she was mostly surprised at Scarlet’s sudden heel-turn from what he was saying earlier that day.

But part of her was glad that at least one person believed that no-one was gonna die.

She smiled and nodded. “Got it.”

Scarlet smirked. “There we go.” He released his hand, prompting Ruby to run over to Jaune.

“So,” Jaune asked, already turning towards the door. “You wanna see what’s going on at the colosseum or not?”

Ruby was about to agree immediately, but hesitated.

“...One sec.” She turned around to face Scarlet again. “Hey Scarlet, you wanna come with us?”

Scarlet stepped back in surprise. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, what?” Jaune said in equal shock.

“I mean, it’s only being polite!” Ruby replied, attempting to justify her decision.

“He attacked me earlier!” Jaune argued. “For no reason!”

“Didn’t you hear what he just said? He promised no-one was gonna die! He obviously wants to help!”

Jaune was about to reply, but folded his arms and sighed.

“Fine...”

“Great!” Ruby turned back around. “You coming?”

Scarlet, who was still in obvious shock that Ruby had asked him to come with them, hesitated a bit.

Then he smiled to himself. “Not like I have anything better to do, anyway.”

The sun was still high up in the sky, indicating that it was around noon. Despite the blue sky and the lush green grass around them as her, Scarlet and Jaune left the building to find the colosseum, Ruby still felt uneasy.

While they were walking, Jaune made sure to keep some space between him and Scarlet, who didn’t really seem to notice or care.

“Do you remember the way there?” Jaune asked.

“Umm...” Ruby said thoughtfully. “It’s around here somewhere I think.”

“It’s a floating stage in the sky, I doubt it’ll be too hard to miss.” Scarlet added.

“Well yeah, but-” Her train of thought stopped when she saw the sunlight quickly bounce off something in the grass. “Huh? What’s this?”

Jaune and Scarlet stopped walking as Ruby picked it up.

The item was some kind of folding knife, which had two handles. The blade was concealed within the handles when Ruby turned the knife in a certain direction.

“It’s a butterfly knife.” Scarlet answered.

“Huh?”

“It’s a fancier version of a flip knife. Because of the two handles, see?” He pointed out the blade’s two handles. “Because of the ways the handles are attached, you can flip and twirl it in your hand. There’s a lot of videos of people doing tricks with them online.”

Ruby gently tilted the knife left and right, causing the other handle to gently swing a little. “...Huh. Cool.”

“Mind if I take a look at it?”

Ruby shrugged and handed the knife over. “Sure.”

He took the butterfly knife in his hand and clicked the two handles together a little. He then closed the handles around the blade before grabbing one handle between his thumb and forefinger, and spun the knife so that the blade flew out and the other handle swung back into his hand.

He smirked a little to himself. “Always wanted to learn how to use one of these...” He remarked to himself, before continuing to gently spin the blade by it’s handles.

Ruby smiled a little too, before Jaune tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey,” He whispered to her. “Can we talk?” He shot a glance at Scarlet, who wasn’t listening to him. “In...Private?”

“Uh, okay.” Ruby replied.

The two of them walked a short distance away so he wouldn’t hear them.

“What’s up?”

Jaune shot another glare in Scarlet’s direction, before turning back to her. “Are you SURE it’s a good idea to trust him?”

“Huh?” Ruby tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“He attacked me for no reason, Ruby!”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t exactly leave him alone! He’s our friend!”

“YOUR friend.” Jaune corrected. “Going from what Neptune said earlier, he would rarely talk to him and Sun. You and Sage were the only people who really ever talked to the guy.”

Ruby was about to reply, but realised he had a point there.

_But...Why IS that…?_

“Look,” He continued. “I’m just not sure it’s a good idea to trust him at the moment. After what happened earlier, y’know?”

“I mean, you’re right to be worried I guess, but...” She looked over to Scarlet, who was slowly but surely figuring out how to twirl the butterfly knife faster. “He doesn’t seem to be angry at you anymore.”

Jaune seemed skeptical. “I’m still not sure about that guy...”

“Yeah, but won’t it be better to trust him for the moment?” She turned back over to face Jaune. “This is the kind of scenario where we need to trust each other, right?”

Jaune thought for a moment, then sighed.

“Fine,” He relented. “But if he tries anything else...”

“He won’t, don’t worry.”

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure?”

“Because...” Ruby stopped to think for a moment before continuing, her eyes shining determinedly.

“Because he’s my friend.”

Jaune stared at her incredulously, then sighed, relenting.

“Okay then. As long as you’re sure...”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure.” She turned and started to head back over to where Scarlet was, but in the time that her and Jaune were talking, he had vanished.

“Huh?” She looked around for him. “Where did he-?”

“Over here!” Scarlet said from a few feet off. “You might want to take a look at this.”

Ruby and Jaune immediately ran over to where Scarlet was to see what he was pointing out.

Amity Colosseum was a short distance away from where he was standing.

Jaune shrugged. “...Huh. Well, there it is.”

“Not just that!” Scarlet said. “Look closer.”

Ruby did as he said and looked closer.

There was a large set of stairs leading up to the many entrances into the arena.

“Huh?” Ruby said, surprised. “I don’t remember those being there!”

“Me neither. Looks like that’s what the little bastard meant by an alternative entrance.”

“But isn’t Amity like...Super high up?” She asked. “We’d be walking up those things for hours!”

Jaune shook his head. “I doubt that. I thought it was just my imagination, but...” He turned back over to the colosseum, studying the building skeptically. “When we saw it yesterday, it just felt like it was a lot lower to the ground than it should’ve been.”

“If that’s the case, the stairs make sense.” Scarlet replied.

“But why go to all that trouble?” Ruby asked. “I mean, he could’ve just kept it the way it was with the airbuses, right?”

“No.” Scarlet answered. “Too risky. We could’ve used the airbuses to escape or at least find a way around the forcefield.”

Ruby groaned. “Seriously, that thing’s thinking boggles me...”

Scarlet shrugged.

“Either way,” Jaune said, pointing at the stairway. “The next direction should be up those stairs, don’t you think?”

“Looks like it.” Ruby replied with a nod.

“Okay then.” Jaune politely gestured his hand towards the stairway, like a butler showing a guest to their table. “Ladies first, right?”

Scarlet smirked. “Won’t that mean that you’re going first?”

Ruby laughed, while Jaune rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Ah! There you guys a- Oh.” Yang’s face fell a little when she noticed that Scarlet was with them. “Why is HE here?”

“I invited him.” Ruby replied casually. “It’s only fair that he can investigate too. Is that a problem?”

Yang’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, so Pyrrha decided to answer instead.

“No, no, it isn’t a problem.” She reassured, walking over to them. “The more the merrier, right?”

Scarlet sighed. “I’m obviously not welcome here...” He turned around to the exit. “I should just take my leave-”

“No no no! It’s fine!” Pyrrha placated.

“We could honestly use more hands on deck.” Ren added.

“Cool.” Jaune replied. “So what’s going on?”

“We’re having a look around to see what’s going on with here.” Yang answered. “Y’know, to see if Beochi put any of those weapon drops he talked about in here.”

“He probably has.” Scarlet shrugged, before pointing down at the space below the arena stage where participants would fly if they had been knocked out of bounds. “I think I’ll check down there. Is that okay with you?”

“That’s great!” Pyrrha said encouragingly, clapping her hands together.

“Okay then.” He said with a nod, before turning around and jumping into the crevice.

“Ah-!?” Ruby couldn’t help but be a little shocked when Scarlet jumped down and disappeared down the arena’s side, so she started to run over.

“It’s fine!” She heard his voice reply, so she walked over and looked down.

He was calmly scaling down a built-in ladder down to the bottom. “There’s a ladder, see?”

Ruby sighed with relief. “That’s good...”

He briefly took his hand off of the ladder in a cheerful salute. “I’ll be up in a few minutes, okay?”

With that, he climbed the rest of the way down and disappeared under the stage.

“Well now that Scarlet’s gotten himself busy,” Jaune asked. “What do you want the rest of us to do?”

Yang shrugged. “You can help search around I guess.”

“That’s fair.”

Ruby nodded and started to walk around the circular path around the arena, where people would usually walk around when going to or leaving their seats. The various entrance halls were branded with either posters for the Vytal Festival or for certain deals where you could get a tub of popcorn free if you ordered two medium drinks; or posters supporting the four academies with slogans such as “Beacon: Bringing the heroes of tomorrow!” or “Show your support for the future soldiers of the Atlesian Military” and such. Another thing to note was that all of said entrance halls – aside from the one leading to the staircase – were boarded up. The one leading to the staircase did have a wall, but it also had a set of double doors leading to the staircase so people could enter and leave as they pleased.

It was the kind of building that was just _meant_ to be busy. It felt unsettling to see it deserted like this.

_I still don’t believe that it’s actually here…_Ruby thought. _How did Beochi manage to get a hold of the colosseum?_

It didn’t take that long for Ruby to eventually circle back to where the others were; where they were searching different areas of the stands. Aside from Pyrrha, who was heading down the path towards her.

“Any luck?” Ruby asked.

Pyrrha shook her head. “Doesn’t look like it, unfortunately...Though,” She looked to her inquiringly. “Did you have a look at the motive tab on your scroll?”

“Huh?” Ruby immediately fished her scroll out of her pocket.

One of the previously locked tabs on the screen was now available; being named “motive”. It was flashing in the same way the regulations tab was the day before, so she instinctively tapped it.

The screen that followed had a massive countdown timer on it, at 23:18.

“Something he must have failed to mention,” Pyrrha continued. “He added a timer to show us how much time we have until the time limit runs out for the motive. It’s on my scroll too,” She quickly pulled out her scroll, which was also displaying the same screen. “See?”

“So that’s how much time we have left...” Ruby noted with a deflated sigh. She was hoping to keep the killing game from interfering with her mood for the rest of the day, but no can do, apparently.

“Maybe he’s trying to give any potential killer a time slot.” Jaune added from nearby in the stands, having apparently picked up on the two’s conversation.

“Actually,” Yang asked, not too far away from him. “What do you think would happen if the time ran out and nobody died?”

“He’d give us another motive straight afterwards, possibly.” Ren answered, not too far away either. “A possible example being the promise of freeing a person’s entire team instead of just another person.”

“Then what about someone like Penny? Or Emerald and Mercury? Neither of them have teams.”

Jaune shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”

“Good point. Oh, uh...” She turned over to Ruby. “Sis, can we chat a minute?”

“Sure!” Ruby nodded. “What’s up?”

“No, I mean...” She looked around at Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha, who had resumed their search. “...In private?”

“...Ooooohhh.” Ruby realised. “Gotcha. I think the entrance hall over there could work.”

Yang nodded, and hopped down the various flights of chairs in order to get down, before the two of them headed over to the entrance hall nearby for some privacy.

“So what’s up?” Ruby asked.

“Well, uh,” Yang started, before quickly chancing a quick glance over at the arena stage. “I’m not trying to sound mean or anything, but...” She pointed at the stage. “...Why did you invite _him?_”

“Huh?” Ruby asked, confused. “I just thought it would be polite. I couldn’t just leave him on his own. That would just be rude! What’s up with that?”

“I mean, he did attack Jaune for no reason not too long ago.”

Ruby was tempted to say something along the lines of “I don’t care about that, you can’t just leave a friend on their own when they cheer you up after hearing about an evil Grimm robot’s motive”, but realised she’d then have to explain what happened in the amphitheatre earlier, and that would just take too long to go over and-

Thankfully Yang continued talking before she had to think all of that through.

“I know you’re just trying to be nice, but...” She gave her sister a worried look. “He could be dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Ruby shrugged. “I don’t think he’s dangerous.”

Yang winced a little. “I’m not sure, sis...I mean, I barely know the guy. How do we know we can-?”

“Hey, guys?” They heard Jaune say from the stands. “You might wanna take a look at this.”

The fact that he had a slight tinge of worry in his voice prompted Ruby and Yang to dart to the stands, climb over the various rows of seats and run over to him almost immediately.

Jaune was looking underneath some of the chairs with his hand placed to his chin.

“What is it?” Ruby asked, as Ren and Pyrrha approached the area in front of the stands.

As if to answer her question, Jaune reached underneath the chairs and pulled something out to show her.

Ruby’s breath hitched in her throat.

It was a longsword.

It had a gold hilt and base, with leather straps wrapped around the handle, likely for the user’s comfort. The blade was made of a shining steel, the sunlight darting across the edge if you tilted it the right way. Which he did, as if to get the entire group’s attention.

Pyrrha put her hands to her mouth in shock. “By the gods…”

Jaune nodded in agreement. “It looks like Beochi was right about there being weapons here.”

It was almost fitting that the weapon he had found was a longsword, as Crocea Mors – his weapon of choice, which had currently disappeared to who knows where – was also a longsword, which had a sheath that could turn into a shield.

However, Jaune was looking at this one with unease.

“What’re we supposed to do with it?” He asked.

Ren shrugged. “I’m not sure. We still have yet to find anywhere to store the weapons we’ve already found.”

“So we’re kinda stuck until we find somewhere...” Ruby said, resigned.

“Then what am I supposed to do with this thing?” Jaune pointed at the sword with a mix of uneasiness and annoyance. “I can’t exactly keep it myself! I’ll be an easy target to get killed for it! Or if someone dies, I’ll be the first person everyone will jump on!”

“Nobody’s gonna die!” Ruby argued, semi-reassuringly. “You don’t have to worry about that!”

“A bit late for that now!”

“Okay, okay!” Yang interjected. “I’ll take it off your hands if you don’t want it.”

Jaune looked over to her with mild surprise. “Wait, really? What if someone tries to take it off you by force or something?”

“Oh, please! I can easily fight someone off if they try to steal it!” Yang held a hand out expectantly. “Gimmie.”

Jaune waited for a moment, then shrugged. “As long as you’re sure.”

He tossed the sword over to her. It bounced around in Yang’s hands for a minute until she finally managed to get a hold of it.

“Where are you gonna put it?” Ruby asked.

“There’s a shelf in my room, I’m pretty sure.” Yang replied, closely inspecting the sword. “I could put it on top of that for now I guess. Until we find somewhere else, at least.”

Jaune shrugged. “That’ll work. Either way,” He started to climb back down. “It looks like we’re nearly done here.”

“Okay,” Ruby nodded. “Want me to relay the news to Scarlet?”

“If you want.”

Ruby hopped down the stands and leapt onto the arena stage, before looking down underneath.

“You okay down there?”

Scarlet, surprised by her appearance, suddenly turned back to face her with a salute-like gesture.

“Y-yeah!” He replied.

Ruby didn’t know if it was just her eyes playing tricks or something, but it looked like Scarlet had hurriedly kicked something out of sight before turning around, but she brushed it off as just her imagination.

“You find anything?”

He shook his head. “No, there isn’t anything under here unfortunately.”

“Hm...” Ruby said. “Well, we’re wrapping up anyway. Wanna come back up?”

He took a brief second to look to somewhere that Ruby couldn’t see due to the stage being over most of the area, but eventually turned back around to reply. “Sure, give me a second to climb up.”

Ruby nodded and took a few steps back. It didn’t take long for Scarlet to climb up the ladder and jump onto the stage.

He dusted his hands off. “So, what’d I miss?” He immediately took notice of the sword in Yang’s hands. “Uh...Where did she get that?”

“Jaune found it.” Ruby explained.

“Yeah, I’m just looking after it until we find somewhere we can put all the weapons we’ve found.” Yang affirmed.

“You not find anything?” Pyrrha asked.

Scarlet shook his head. “No, there wasn’t anything there.”

“Bummer.” Yang said. “I could’ve started an armoury in my bedroom.”

Ruby couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s joke.

“Okay, okay.” Pyrrha continued. “It looks like we’ve seen all there is to see in here.”

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “...Really? All Beochi wanted us to find here was a sword?”

Scarlet shrugged. “Evidently. If he wanted to hide anything, he would’ve put it in there.” He gestured over to where he was earlier. “But there wasn’t anything there.”

Jaune looked at him skeptically for a few seconds, before nodding in agreement. “Good point.”

“Either way,” Yang continued, putting the sword down for a few seconds to crack her knuckles before picking it back up. “Looks like we’re all in general agreement.” She used her free hand to point at the exit. “Should we head back?”

“Really?” Ruby asked. “What if there’s more to see here?”

“It doesn’t look like there is. And besides, you need time to relax, sis.”

“I’m with Yang on this one.” Scarlet agreed.

“Yeah, same here.” Jaune added.

“Hmm...” Ruby thought a little before answering. “Okay!”

“Great!” Yang said with a smile, as they all headed to the door. “I’m just hoping that Coco hasn’t used up all the coffee...”

The rest of the day felt uneasily normal. Ruby rejoined with the rest of team RWBY and joined team CFVY and team JNPR to chat over some coffee (while Scarlet had headed off to who knows where), and she briefly ran into Penny in the hall where she gave her some well-needed moral support before heading back to her dorm for the night.

She didn’t exactly expect to be woken up by three gentle knocks on the door.

“Eh…?” Ruby partially pulled herself up to look at the door. It didn’t look like there was anyone else behind it.

She shrugged and pulled the covers back over herself to get back to sleep.

Only for the knocks to wake her up again.

Ruby immediately pulled herself back up.

_At least it isn’t a doorbell this time..._She thought, as she quickly fixed her hair a little (even though she wasn’t in bed for long, she did get bed-head pretty easily) as she headed to open the door.

She had to admit, she was a little surprised at who was actually at the door.

She blinked for a few seconds. “Scarlet?”

The boy in question took a step back. “Huh? Oh, uh...Sorry for waking you.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “What’re you doing here? It’s really late.”

“It’s just...How do I put this…?” He put his hand to his chin for a few seconds, as if trying to find the right words. “...Can we talk?”

“...Aren’t we talking right now?”

“No, like, I mean...In private.” He pointed down the hall. “I’m pretty sure there’s a balcony we can get to. I saw one earlier.”

This only made Ruby even more confused. “Why do you want to talk to me on a balcony?”

“Look, I just...Need to talk to someone, okay?”

Ruby thought for a bit, but she eventually came to the only possible answer in her head.

Sure, it was an awkward question, but…

“...Are you...Hitting on me?”

Scarlet’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “...What?”

Ruby nodded and repeated her question. “Are you hitting on me?”

“Wh-” He took a bit of a step back. “Ruby, why would I be hitting on you?”

“I mean, you're inviting me to some balcony for a private talk in the middle of the night.” Ruby shrugged. “This leads to all kinds of things in books.”

Scarlet’s eyes narrowed again, this time to a more deadpan expression.

“...What kind of books are YOU reading?”

“I snagged a couple of Blake's sappy romance novels a while back without her noticing.”

“I...Don't think you should be reading those.”

Ruby puffed out her cheeks and pouted. “Whatever...”

“Anyway,” He rested his hand behind his head as he continued. “I thought that you'd know that I wouldn't be hitting on you.”

“Wha?” Ruby snapped back to attention. “What do you mean?”

Scarlet stopped, giving her a bit of a wide-eyed confused look.

“...You don’t remember what I said back then?”

She gave him a confused look. “Eh?”

“Remember?” He continued trying to jog her memory. “When you had that one day phase of trying to find a boyfriend?”

She gave him an even more confused look. “Uh...?”

Scarlet blinked for a few minutes, before suddenly laughing to himself, making Ruby even more confused.

“You SERIOUSLY don't remember?” He continued, still laughing. “I'm pretty sure I made it pretty damn clear by what I said there!”

“Uh,” Ruby said as he continued laughing to himself. “I think I need a refresher!”

He eventually stopped laughing, then sighed before looking to her with a bit of a condescending smile.

“I’m gay, Ruby.”

It was at this point that Ruby remembered what he was talking about.

“...OH.”

She was very embarrassed about her question now.

“Yeah.” Scarlet continued. “I'm just honestly surprised no-one else noticed before I said that that day. I mean, we weren't being that discreet about it...”

“Wait, what’re you talking about?” Ruby asked. “And what do you mean, 'we'? Do you mean, like, the royal 'we', or-”

“I'll explain when we get up there.” He gestured for her to follow him, before starting to head down the hallway. “Come on.”

Ruby stopped to think for a moment, before eventually nodding and following him.

It didn’t take them that long to find the balcony Scarlet was talking about. It wasn’t that big, but there was enough space to fit at least a whole team, so it was more than enough for them, and it was positioned on the building just right so that you could see the stars. The balcony was stone and semicircle-shaped, and had a pillared handrail going around the front, with some ivy vines wrapping around some of the pillars.

Scarlet decided to use the handrail for a different purpose and easily vaulted himself onto it and sat down.

Ruby stared at him for a few seconds.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked, tapping on the surface of the rail a little. “There’s plenty of space.”

“Oh. Right.” Ruby nodded and walked over, briefly struggling to get herself on the other side of the handrail, but she eventually took a seat not too far away from him.

“So...Uh...” Ruby started, awkwardly clearing her throat a little. “...’we’?”

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “...That’s what you want to start with?”

“You said you’d explain!” Ruby argued. “And besides, I’m curious.”

“Okay, okay!”

“Right...So...” Ruby continued, not wanting to sound too awkward. “You said ‘we’ earlier. Do you have a boyfriend or something?”

Scarlet nodded. “I guess you could say that.”

“So that’s a yes.” Ruby affirmed. “Who is he?”

He gave her a deadpan look. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“...You’re not telling me?”

He smirked. “You should already know.”

Ruby stopped to think for a minute before it suddenly clicked.

“Wait!” She exclaimed. “You and Sage are-!?”

“Yep.” Scarlet confirmed. “I honestly thought everyone would’ve guessed by now...”

Part of Ruby was shocked by this (the fact that she had evidently forgotten that he was gay earlier didn’t help), but part of her was thinking “how the hell did I not realise this before!?”

“How...Long have you been together for?”

“We only started dating near the end of first year.”

_Oh yeah,_ Ruby thought. _Team SSSN are second year students, aren’t they?_

“But,” He continued. “We’ve known each other a lot longer than that, I suppose.”

“Huh?” Ruby asked. “Did you know each other since you guys were kids or something?”

Scarlet nodded. “Yeah. We lived pretty close to each other in Mistral. And...I kinda got to know him because of...Circumstances.”

“Circumstances?” Ruby asked. “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Scarlet didn’t say anything for a bit.

“You, uh, don’t have to say anything if you don’t want t-”

“No no, it’s fine.”

Ruby hesitantly nodded as Scarlet continued.

“Like I said, we lived pretty close to each other. I had seen him once or twice on the street a few times, but we never really talked for a long time, until...”

“Until?”

“Well, uh...” He hesitated. “...Let’s just say I didn’t exactly have the best home life.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in a mix of shock and horror. “What!?”

“My parents used to argue all the time,” He continued. “It was really scary for a kid, but...Sometimes it...” He pulled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a deep scar across his left arm. “...Escalated.”

Ruby put her hand to her mouth. “God…!”

Scarlet rolled the sleeve back down to cover the scar again. “One day, it got really bad and I couldn’t take it anymore, so I ran. It was about half an hour later and miles away from the house when I realised that I had no idea where I was going. Heh...”

Ruby couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but nodded and listened anyway.

“That’s awful...”

“I know. That’s why I had to get out of there, but...I was just a scared little kid. Where the hell was I supposed to go?” He laughed bitterly to himself. “I was just sitting there in the middle of nowhere crying my eyes out, but...”

“Did you run into him again? Sage, I mean.”

Scarlet nodded to confirm. “Yes. I must’ve looked so pathetic back there...Just some scrawny readhead crying in the middle of nowhere. I honestly had no idea what to do when he came over.”

“What did he do?”

“What do you think he did? You know what Sage is like.” He said with a half-smirk. “He immediately ran over and asked what happened, if I was okay, if I was hurt, all that stuff. Before I could get a full sentence out, he noticed the scar on my arm and immediately grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to his house for help.”

Ruby nodded. “That does sound like something he would do...” She said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“It really is, isn’t it? So yeah, he dragged me over to his house to try and get his mother to help. She was a huntress, so she obviously had experience in patching people up. I eventually decided to explain why I ran away and...She offered to let me stay with them.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah. Honestly, I owe that woman my life. If she hadn’t let me stay with them, then...” He trailed off, before getting back on topic. “And of course, Sage was always there to talk. Hell, he was one of the only people I _could_ talk to, really...”

“Why didn’t you go to see him?” Ruby asked. “I mean, you obviously wanted to talk with someone, so...Why didn’t you talk to him?”

“We, uh...” Scarlet said, with a bit more of a nervous tone. “...We had a bit of a falling-out earlier...”

“What!?” Ruby exclaimed. “You guys fell out!?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Over what happened in the courtyard earlier. We had an argument about it after we all left the colosseum earlier and...We kinda needed some space from each other for a bit, if you get me. So...” He looked over to her. “You were the only person I could really talk to.”

“Right...Wait.” Ruby stopped. “Why DID you do that earlier?”

“Huh?”

“What happened in the courtyard.”

“Tch...” He looked away briefly. “Penny was being naive. I had to tell her the truth.”

“But we don’t know for sure that there’s no other escape! And besides, that doesn’t explain why you attacked Jaune.”

Scarlet didn’t say anything for a bit.

“...He was...Pissing me off, I guess.”

“…...That’s it!?”

“I don’t know, okay!?”

“Look just-!” Ruby sighed, honestly a bit annoyed with his response. “...You didn’t have to attack him like that.”

Scarlet didn’t respond.

Neither of them said anything for a bit, so Ruby decided to change the subject.

“...Do you really think there’s no other way out of here?”

Scarlet nodded. “It doesn’t look like there’s any other way out. But who’s to say?”

“Just because there doesn’t look like there isn’t any other way out, that doesn’t mean that...There isn’t any other...Way out...” She yawned. Being brought out late at night and being half-asleep was taking it’s toll on her.

Scarlet noticed this. “Are you getting tired? Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked for you this late.”

“No no it’s fine...” Ruby said tiredly. “You needed someone to talk to, right…?”

“I guess...Should we continue this tomorrow?”

“Yeah! Good...Idea...” Ruby spun herself back around and got off the handrail. “Are you gonna head back to, or…?”

“Not for a while.” Scarlet replied. “I just need some fresh air for a bit.”

“Oh. Okay.” Ruby turned around and started to walk back.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Ruby suddenly spun back around. “Sorry for what?”

Scarlet stopped, apparently only just realising that she had heard him. He shook his head and turned to face the night sky again.

Ruby hung back for a little.

“See you.”

She turned back around and headed to her dorm.

“Aaah...” Ruby woke up and stretched her arms a little, honestly glad there wasn’t a morning announcement to wake them all up by force.

She picked up her scroll, which was charging on the nearby desk next to the typewriter – seriously, why did the room have a typewriter? – switched it on, and opened the motive tab.

Only a few hours to go before the time limit ran out.

“Perfect!” She said to herself. “We’ve just got a few more hours. Then we won’t have to worry about it!”

She hopped out of bed and dusted off her skirt, before remembering her talk with Scarlet last night, and that they were supposed to continue their talk this morning.

She quickly fixed her hair and left the room to try and find his dorm.

_Hopefully it’s not too far away,_ she thought. _Then we can actually finish our conversation off over some coffee. Or tea. Or...Whatever it is he drinks in the morning._

She finally reached Scarlet’s dorm. Each of the dorm rooms had the student’s symbol on it, and she could tell it was his by the red skull and crossed swords styled like a skull and crossbones on the door.

She quickly made sure she looked more presentable and less like she had just rolled out of bed (which she just did), and rang the doorbell.

No response.

She waited a few seconds and rang again.

Still nothing.

Ruby clicked the button again, and again, and a few more times to make sure.

Still no response.

“...Huh. That’s weird.” She said to herself. “That should’ve woken him up.”

She eventually realised that this means that he wasn’t in his dorm and could be anywhere.

“Ugh...” She groaned, a search party not being what she wanted to do first thing in the morning.

“Okay, if I were a red pirate with a British accent, where would I hide?”

She put her hand to her chin and thought.

“Oh! I know!” She exclaimed, the figurative lightbulb appearing over her head. “He’s probably making things up with Sage, right? He’s gotta at his dorm!”

It didn’t take Ruby that long to find Sage’s dorm either, with it being marked with a pair of green wings.

She rang the doorbell.

There wasn’t any response for a bit, so she got ready to press the button again when she heard Sage’s voice from the other side of the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Ruby.” Ruby replied. “I just want to ask you something!”

“...Hold on.”

There was another few seconds pause, before Sage opened the door.

Ruby had never really spent that much time with Sage, so she had to admit that seeing his tall figure up close was pretty intimidating.

“What is it?” He asked.

Ruby tried to look past him into the room. From what she could see, the dorm was very well kept with a number of books (likely from the library) sitting in neat organised piles on the desk.

“Is Scarlet not in here?” She asked.

Sage looked at her quizically and shook his head. “No. He isn’t.”

“Oh. Uh...” Ruby started. “Have you seen him at all today?”

He shook his head again. “Not since yesterday. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’m looking for him. I’m just wondering if you knew where he was.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t he in his dorm?”

“No, he isn’t.”

Sage stopped, his expression shifting a little. “...What?”

Ruby shrugged. “Why do you think I went to ask you?” She craned her neck to try and get another look inside. “You sure he isn’t in there?”

“No, I...” He said, stepping out of the room. “I haven’t seen him at all today.”

Ruby stopped. “Wait...If he isn’t in there...” She looked around a little. “Where is he?”

“We should try to find him.” Sage affirmed, closing the door.

Ruby nodded. “Yeah. Good call.” The two of them set off down the hallway of dorm rooms towards the stairs.

_Though,_ she thought. _What is with Sage’s tone right now? He doesn’t seriously think that-_

Both of them were stopped by the door next to them opening.

It was Yang’s. The girl in question stumbled out, clutching her head a little, as if she either had a headache or had been hit with something.

“Ugh...” She started, before looking up to see them. “Huh?”

“Yang?” Ruby asked. “What’s wrong? Did you oversleep or something?”

“Nonono, I-” She looked around. “Have you seen Jaune anywhere? I need to tell him something.”

Ruby shrugged. “No, I woke up a few minutes ago.”

“And I’ve been in my room reading for the past hour.” Sage added. “Actually, have you seen Scarlet anywhere?”

Yang stopped to think for a moment. “Uh...Actually...” She said. “I think I saw him earlier.”

“Really?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah, when I was headed up here.” She nodded. “He was headed in the direction of the colosseum, I think.”

“The...Colosseum? Why would he go there?” Sage asked skeptically.

“Well,” Ruby thought. “If I remember correctly, he didn’t find anything under the stage, right? Maybe he just went to see if Beochi left anything there during the night!”

“Beochi probably would’ve.” Yang replied. “Maybe that’s why he went.”

“Then that’s decided!” Ruby said. “He has to be there, right?”

Sage shrugged. “Hopefully.”

“Then let’s go!” She turned to Yang. “You wanna tag along?”

Yang nodded. “Alright. Let’s go!”

“Are you sure you saw him going that way?”

“Get off my back Sage, I saw what I saw.”

The three of them had left the academy building, and had briefly stopped next to a fountain outside nearby to where the colosseum was.

“It just seems...Odd.” Sage continued.

Yang shrugged. “Your friend is a pretty odd guy.”

“And besides,” Ruby said. “He does have a reason if Beochi had added any more weapon drops to the colosseum.”

“I guess. But if he did plan on going there, why didn’t he say anything to us?” She gestured over to beyond some trees, where the others could be seen outside an opening hallway to the academy not too far away. “Everyone’s pretty nearby. He could’ve asked us for help.”

“Hm...” Ruby put her hand to her chin. “I guess that IS pretty weird. Right, Sa-”

Ruby stopped when she saw his expression.

Sage was backing away from the fountain, looking at something below him with wide, unfocused eyes.

“Sage?” Ruby asked. “What’s wrong?”

Sage didn’t say anything, so she looked down to see what he was looking at.

She gasped a little in horror.

The edge of the pristine white fountain was stained with blood.

Yang had noticed this too. “...T-the fuck…!?”

“Wh-where the heck did this come from!?” Ruby stuttered.

“...Look.” Sage suddenly said, signalling with his eyes over in another direction.

The bloodstain lead to a trail. And the trail was leading somewhere.

Ruby still couldn’t process what she was looking at.

“Wh...Wha…!?”

“We have to follow that trail.”

“Wait, w-”

Sage suddenly sprinted off ahead of them.

“Sage, wait!” Ruby exclaimed, swiftly using her semblance to catch up to him.

Yang, who didn’t have any other options, decided to catch up to them on foot.

The blood trail eventually lead to the stairway up to the colosseum door, where it continued up the stairs.

“It lead all the way here…?” Ruby said to herself.

Sage suddenly had a determined look and sprinted up the stairs.

“W-wait a second!” Ruby started after him with Yang following.

At the top of the stairs, the trail led into the doorway to the inside of the colosseum.

Ruby gulped nervously. “U-uh...Why does the blood trail lead in there?”

Yang shook her head. “I don’t know...”

Sage knocked on the door. “Scar, are you in there?”

Silence.

He knocked again. “If you’re messing with me, this isn’t funny. Open the door.”

Silence.

“Scarlet?” He knocked again. “Scarlet, open the door!”

Silence.

Sage took a few steps back, as if trying to process the information.

Ruby was shivering a little, but she tried to be optimistic. “M...Maybe he’s not in the-”

She was cut off by Sage suddenly shoving both doors open, prompting the three of them to run inside.

Ruby’s heart stopped.

The arena stage was covered in blood, some of it dripping off the stage and into the crevice below. The body was lying on it’s side, with two deep slash wounds across it’s torso.

It’s eyes were closed in a pained expression, and blood was dripping out of it’s mouth.

Ruby couldn’t hear what Sage and Yang were saying, and she could barely hear the speaker in the colosseum humming to life as Beochi announced the discovery of a body.

All she could focus on was what was in front of her.

They had found Scarlet in there.

But...He was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MWAHAHAHAHAH  
It's been WAY too long, but finally! The first death!  
(and so far, no-one was able to guess it. Bet'cha didn't see this coming, huh~?)  
Thank you for actually reading this! <3  
Oh, and please comment with your reactions! (pretty please)


	7. How to Get Away With Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A body has been discovered!  
After a short while of investigating, there will be a class trial!"

It was at this point that Ruby realised she was screaming.

“S-sis-!?” Yang managed to say.

Ruby quickly slapped a hand over her mouth to silence herself.

She still didn’t want to believe what she was seeing.

What was this? Was this some kind of messed-up nightmare?

No.

It was very real.

Scarlet was dead.

Despite her best efforts, the killing game had begun.

Her swirling train of thought was interrupted by the sound of multiple footsteps thundering up the steps outside and the doors slamming open.

“What’s going on!?” Jaune called out, apparently being the one to open the doors. “We heard the announcement! We-” His breath hitched when he saw Scarlet’s body.

Pyrrha, who had come in not too long after him, put her hands to her mouth in horror. “O...Oh gods...”

It didn’t take too long for everyone else to come in.

Nora sprinted in first.

“There’s an announcement going off! There’s an announcement going off! Why is there an announcement going o- HOLY SHI-!” She suddenly leapt backwards and collided into a nearby Ren with a dull thud as soon as she saw the body.

Ren managed to grab her and mostly steady himself before both of them fell.

“N-Nora, calm down..!” He tried to say in an attempt to cool the girl off, but his voice was shakier than usual.

“WHAT!? THE ACTUAL!? FUCK!?!?!?” Sun exclaimed in horror.

“Th-this has gotta be some kind of joke, right!?” Neptune seconded. “He can’t actually be-”

“He’s...Dead.” Penny said monotonously, prompting Sun and Neptune to cry out in panic.

Blake spun around to try and reassure them. “G-guys, calm down!”

“HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN!?” Sun argued, pointing frantically towards Scarlet’s body. “OUR TEAMMATE IS DEAD!!!”

Blake looked like she wanted to say something, but evidently didn’t know what to say.

Ruby wanted to look away to see what everyone else was saying, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Scarlet’s body. Eventually, as everyone else chattered and panicked amongst themselves in their own private horror, she forced her eyes away from the body to look over to the other person who had discovered the body with her.

Part of her thought Sage would be panicking as well, but he wasn’t.

His eyes were fixed on the body, but unfocused at the same time, and his expression was...Unreadable. It was like he was feeling no emotion, but also feeling every emotion at once.

Before she could ask him anything, an all too familiar creature popped up in front of them.

“Well well well!” Beochi’s grating voice sounded, causing everyone to go quiet. “One of ya actually had the guts and did it!” He applauded his ‘audience’ with a smile. “I’d give you all gold stars, but only one of you did the deed. Besides, I, uh...Don’t actually have any gold stars.”

“Whoa, hey, wait a second!” Neptune interrupted. “Can you, uh, backtrack a little?”

“Backtrack to where, the gold stars?”

“Not that! What do you mean, one of us!?”

Beochi gave Neptune a completely deadpan look. “I mean one of you killed him. Are you braindead or something?”

“Yeah right, like we’d believe THAT BS!” Nora argued, pointing an accusatory finger at Beochi. “YOU’RE the one who killed him!”

Beochi’s look somehow became even _more_ deadpan. “...Are you serious right now?”

“HELL YEAH, I’m serious! You’ve been the one that’s been wanting one of us to die for the past few days! And now a body’s turned up! It HAS to have been you!”

“And besides,” Neptune added, pointing over to Scarlet’s fatal injury. “I’m pretty sure those are claw marks.”

Beochi stared at the two of them in complete disbelief before facepalming and groaning.

“OH FOR FUCK’S- first of all. I don’t want you to _die,_ I want you to _kill each other_.”

“Same difference-!” Nora tried to argue, but Beochi continued over her.

“NOT SAME DIFFERENCE! And as for what YOU said,” He snapped, turning over to Neptune, holding his hand threateningly and extending his claws. “YOU WANT ME TO SHOW YOU WHAT MY CLAW MARKS LOOK LIKE…!?”

Neptune took a fearful step back. “Nah I’m good…!”

“I can’t believe I have to confirm this to you...But since SOME OF YOU obviously aren’t getting it…!” Beochi angrily pointed over towards Scarlet’s body. “Where do you idiots THINK dead bodies come from!? The magical CORPSE FAIRY!? Edgelord pirate boy is DEAD now, and one of YOU IDIOTS KILLED HIM!!! GOT THAT!?!?!?”

An unsettling silence followed, as the full realisation of what had happened sunk in.

Even after finding Scarlet’s body, Ruby didn’t believe that one of them had killed him. But now after what Beochi had said...

Beochi snapped back into an almost friendly stance, taking the silence as an agreement. “Great! Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s get started!”

“Wait, started with what?” Penny asked. “Your objective of one of us committing murder has evidently been reached, hasn’t it?”

“Well, yeah.” He pointed towards the clump of people in front of him. “But you guys have an objective too, remember?”

“...We do?”

“If I remember correctly,” Blake put a hand to her chin. “In that speech he gave us, he said something about a trial.”

“That’s it!” Beochi said excitedly. “That would be ANOTHER gold star for you!...If I had them.”

“So what,” Emerald asked. “Are we all going to go to a trial or something?”

“Eeeeexactly, my friend!”

“...I’m not your friend.”

“How do you even expect us to hold a trial, anyway?” Fox questioned. “I mean, last I checked, you can’t exactly have a trial without an investigation.”

“And THERE IT IS!…...I really need to get gold stars at some point...ANYWAY!” Beochi clapped his hands together. “You are all going to do an investigation! Find as much evidence as you can before the trial, where you will have to put that evidence to the test to see whodunnit!”

“Hold on a second,” Weiss interrupted. “If I remember correctly, I asked you during your speech what would happen if we catch the killer. Well, now that there’s a body, can you tell us?”

“Well remembered, Ice Queen! And to answer your question...” He explained. “If you correctly identify the blackened who committed murder, they will receive punishment!”

“Punishment?” Ruby repeated uneasily. “...What do you mean, punishment?”

Yang narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think I _want_ to know what punishment means...”

“However,” Beochi continued. “If you get it wrong, I will punish everyone BESIDES the blackened!”

A chill went down Ruby’s spine. And evidently, a chill went down everyone else’s spines too.

“Okay, we good? We good.” Beochi continued without missing a beat. “Now, let’s get started!”

Everyone looked at him in silence.

Beochi noticed this. “...Uh...Why aren’t you getting started?”

“Because, uh...” Jaune asked. “HOW do you expect us to investigate a murder?”

He stopped, as if remembering something. “Oh! Yeah! I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me, Blondie! I actually have something to help you!”

Everyone looked on, surprised that he was actually apparently helping them, as Beochi snapped his fingers.

As if on cue, everyone’s scrolls got a notification at the same time.

Ruby took hers out, noticing that one of the tabs was now unlocked and flashing.

This specific tab being named “Beochi File”.

The others were starting to get out their scrolls, so Ruby opened the tab to see what Beochi had given them.

The screen had now changed to a black background, with a grayscale picture of Scarlet on the left-hand side with “DEAD” stamped over it in gruesome pink letters. The screen also labelled his name, academy, team, teammates – with “alive” marked next to them, as if Beochi was expecting more people to die – just basic information about him.

Mercury, who had also read over this, looked up, evidently dissatisfied. “...Is that it?”

“What do you MEAN, is that it!?” Sun snapped.

“Hey hey, no need for the hostility!” Beochi said. “And no, swipe the screen to get into the meat of things.”

Mercury shrugged and swiped the screen. “Meh, alright.”

His expression subtly changed into surprise not long after he did.

“...Holy shit.”

“What is it?” Emerald asked, concerned.

“Swipe the screen and see for yourself!” Beochi answered.

Emerald looked annoyed as she wasn’t really asking him, but took her scroll back out anyway as the rest of the group followed suit.

Ruby decided to do the same, and couldn’t believe her eyes when new information came on the screen.

The most notable image was of Scarlet’s body, broken and bloodied by the two slash wounds at the top of the screen. It almost made Ruby sick seeing it again, and that Beochi felt it was right to put it there.

A silhouette of Scarlet was also displayed on the screen below it, but with two pink strikes across his body indicating the slash wounds. There was also white text next to it, which said:

“The victim is Scarlet David.

The body was discovered on the arena stage of Amity Colosseum.

The cause of death was a deep slash wound to the torso caused by a sharp instrument.

He had also received a slash wound prior to that, but the second slash wound was the fatal blow.”

“Tadaaaa!” Beochi said, excited to show off his work. “What do you think?”

Jaune looked up from his scroll at him. “Isn’t this just an autopsy report?”

“This isn’t just an autopsy report, Blondie! This is the Beochi file! It details the necessary information about the murder; including the victim, area of discovery and cause of death!”

“...So it’s an autopsy report.”

Nora shrugged. “Better than nothin’, I guess.”

Yang looked over to Beochi distrustfully. “I still don’t believe that you’re helping us.”

Beochi shrugged. “Isn’t it the headmaster’s job to help his students?”

“Well it-”

“How do you know all of this?”

Everyone, apparently including Beochi, was surprised when Sage spoke up, as he hadn’t said anything at all since the body was discovered.

Not to mention the cold tone in his voice seemed to put everyone on edge.

“Uuh...What was that, Timelord?”

Sage was glaring at Beochi now. “How. Do you. Know all of this.”

Beochi was apparently thrown off his game now. “W-well...The thing is...Er...”

“You know who killed him, don’t you?”

Everyone went silent.

Even Beochi didn’t say anything for a while.

“………...Maybe?”

Everyone went into an uproar.

“You WHAT!?!?” (Sun)

“If you already know who the killer is, why are you making US do the dirty work for you!?” (Mercury)

“Why are you even making us investigate!?” (Yang)

“If you know, then tell us who the damn killer is!” (Nora)

“Explain the truth at once!” (Weiss)

“Don’t just stand there with your mouth shut, say something!” (Neptune)

It was now even harder for Ruby to collect her thoughts, both due to this new bombshell being dropped and everyone shouting over each other.

But before she could think things through, Coco suddenly shouted and cut through the noise.

“BE QUIET!!!”

Everyone shut up.

“Look, he’s obviously not gonna tell us who the killer is!” She continued, pointing towards Beochi. “Do all of you REALLY think he’d tell us right now!? No, he obviously wants us to go through with this investigation and figure things out ourselves.”

“But we-” Nora started.

“NO. There’s NO POINT arguing with him, we ALL saw the stunt he pulled with Yang in the opening ceremony, remember?”

“Well yeah but-” Yang tried to say.

“EXACTLY. There isn’t any point trying to force the truth out of him if he can just jump at us and blow up!” She took out her scroll – on the “details of the murder” section of the Beochi file – and pointed at the screen. “He’s at least given us SOMETHING to work with here, so we should at least TRY to investigate instead of trying to start a pointless argument!”

Her voice suddenly went colder as she put her scroll down. “However, I am aware that one of YOU murdered him. And I know that you’re not gonna tell us who you are, because why the fuck WOULD you? Either way, whoever you are, don’t you DARE fuck off somewhere. You’re part of this, whether you like it or not. Got that?”

Everyone was silent.

Coco seemed to take this as an agreement. “Good.”

“Well,” Beochi said. “Looks like I’m ready to love you and leave you. I’ll say through the speakers when it’s time for the trial, but now’s the time to investigate! See you later, suckers!”

With that, Beochi disappeared.

“Right,” Coco clapped her hands together, apparently taking the lead again. “You heard him, we have a time limit until the trial. And we don’t know how long that is, so we’d better get moving fast.” She adjusted her glasses. “The best thing to do for now is to split.”

“Huh? Split?” Penny asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier for us to all work together as a single unit when we investigate?”

“If we split, we’ll be able to cover more ground. And there might be more evidence outside for all we know.” Coco explained. “We won’t need that big of a group in here I think, so most of us will be outside. I’ll be leading everyone there, okay? Now let me think...”

She thought for a moment, before deciding.

“Okay. Blake. Velvet. Jaune. Ruby.” She said, pointing at each person in turn. “You’ll cover in here. The rest of us will take care of outside.”

“Huh? Us?” Jaune asked.

“Yes, you. Better not fuck it up.”

Blake nodded. “Don’t worry.”

“Good.” Coco turned over to Ruby. “And Ruby. You’re leading.”

Ruby was still out of it, but snapped to attention at what Coco said. “Huh? I’m what?”

“You heard me. You’re leading the investigation in here.”

“E-eh!?”

“If you’re able to lead your team, you’d be able to lead the investigation.”

“Um,” Penny asked. “Shouldn’t the same logic be applied to Jaune?”

“Jaune would kinda be useless with leading a murder investigation. No offence.”

Jaune shrugged. “None taken.”

“But I-” Ruby stuttered.

“No buts.” Coco said firmly. “Trust me, I know how you feel. But don’t let it consume you. You need to let it make you stronger.” Her gaze suddenly hardened. “However, if you ARE the killer...I won’t hesitate to take all of that back. That’s all.”

Ruby hesitated for a few seconds, but nodded nervously.

“Okay, people!” Coco clapped her hands together and started heading for the door. “Let’s get to work!”

Before she left, Yang quickly got her attention.

“Hey,” She asked. “Mind if I hang back for a sec?...I think I need to talk to Ruby for a bit.”

Coco nodded. “Don’t be long.”

Soon everyone, minus Yang and the others sent to investigate the arena, went out the door.

Everything was silent for a while.

Ruby kept herself rooted to the spot, her eyes fixed to the ground.

She’d rather look at anything but Scarlet’s body.

I mean sure, he did attack Jaune the other day, but did someone really kill him because of that?

It didn’t take long for silent tears to start coming out.

Yang and Jaune quickly ran over.

“H-hey sis,” Yang attempted to reassure her. “Don’t worry, it’s okay-”

“It’s NOT okay!” Ruby sobbed. “Scarlet’s dead! Someone MURDERED him! And there’s nothing we can do about it!”

Yang stopped and took a step back sheepishly.

Jaune, however, took a step forward.

“There IS something we can do.”

He put his hands on Ruby’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry. Whoever did this to Scarlet isn’t getting away with it. I swear on my life.”

Beads of tears were still forming in Ruby’s eyes. “...T-thank you...”

Jaune put his hands down. “I think the first thing to do is start investigating.”

Blake and Velvet, who were both a few feet away, both nodded in agreement. “Right.”

Yang looked to the side. “I’m sorry this happened, but...Coco’s right. We can’t just stand here.”

Ruby nodded in agreement, before she remembered something.

“Yang, can I ask you something?”

“Huh? Sure, what’s up?”

“When Sage and I went past your dorm earlier,” Ruby continued. “When you came out, you looked hurt. What happened?”

Yang looked a little surprised. Her face then paled a little, as if Ruby’s question had caused her to connect some dots. “O-oh...Oh god...”

“What is it?”

“Well, I was in the courtyard for a bit with the others. And since the timer was going down, Jaune was starting to get worried.”

Ruby turned over to Jaune. “How come?”

“Remember that sword I gave to her yesterday?” Jaune explained. “I was starting to worry that someone would steal it or something. So I asked Yang if she could go and check on it, but...She didn’t come back until the announcement went off.”

“Huh?” Ruby turned back over to Yang. “What happened?”

“Well, when I went into my room, the sword was there, but...” She continued. “Something whacked me on the back of the head and I blacked out on the floor.”

“Wha!? Are you okay!?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry!” Yang reassured. “But when I woke up...The sword had completely vanished.”

“It what!?” Jaune asked, surprised.

“I know! I don’t know how long I was out for, but it was gone!”

Jaune put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Someone must have knocked you out and stole it...”

“That’s what I was thinking! Then next thing I know,” She gestured towards Scarlet’s body.

“Hm...Thanks for telling us. That might be useful later.”

Yang nodded uneasily. “No problem.” She looked over to Ruby. “Good luck.”

Ruby nodded back as Yang went out the door.

“U-um...What do you think we should do now?” Ruby asked nervously.

She already knew what Jaune was going to say, but she still didn’t want him to say it.

“Well...”

_Please don’t say it._

“I think the best thing we can do right now is...”

_PLEASE DON’T SAY IT._

“Take a closer look at the body.”

_He said it..._

Ruby shuddered a little. “...Do we have to?”

“We kinda need to.” Jaune explained. “Trust me, I don’t wanna go over there either. But what if he has evidence on him or something?”

Ruby wanted to object, but she knew Jaune had a point.

Instead she hesitantly nodded. “Y-yeah, we kinda have to...”

“Then let’s go.”

Ruby slowly walked over onto the arena stage, trying not to pay too much attention to the small splashing sounds as she shakily stepped across the large pool of blood.

Some blood was still dripping out of the two wounds across Scarlet’s chest, and true to the Beochi File’s word, one of the slashes had cut deeper into his flesh than the other. His usually pristine jacket was now torn and stained with the sickly colour of blood, his eyes were forced shut and a small trickle of blood was running down from his mouth.

As the scent of blood overwhelmed her, Ruby couldn’t help but feel sick.

This was the first time she had ever been this close to a dead body.

She never thought that day would even come, let alone the dead body being one of her friends.

She put her hand over her mouth in an attempt to resist the urge to vomit.

“I’m sorry,” She half muttered, half sobbed through her hand. “I didn’t want anyone to die...I should’ve been able to prevent this...”

“I know,” Jaune said reassuringly, startling her as she had forgotten for a moment that he was with her. “But apologising isn’t gonna do anything to-”

Jaune stopped halfway through his sentence and eyed Scarlet’s body suspiciously.

Ruby noticed and moved her hand away from her face. “What is it?”

“...What’s that thing in his hand?”

Ruby turned her attention back to the body. “Where?”

Jaune pointed. “It’s in his right hand, but since he’s lying on his right side it’s pretty hard to see. Look.”

Ruby took a closer look, and sure enough, Jaune was right.

“Huh?” Ruby reached over to pick it up. “What IS that?”

She gently pulled Scarlet’s wrist up to get a closer look, before trying to pull it out.

However, taking this thing from his hand was a lot harder than it looked.

“It must be that thing that causes someone’s body to go stiff when they die,” Jaune noted. “One of my sisters likes crime shows, and they mentioned it a few times. A long word beginning with...R…?”

“The word doesn’t matter, I need to get this out!” Ruby said as she continued trying to pull it out of his hand.

“He must’ve been holding this thing really tightly before he died...”

“The commentary isn’t helping!”

“It might!”

Ruby didn’t really want to pry Scarlet’s fingers apart to see get this thing out of his hand, but it looked like she had no other choice. She took his wrist in her left hand, and using her right, managed to pull each finger up one by one until the object came loose.

“Eeeehhh...” Ruby shivered, before finally putting Scarlet’s hand down and picking what he was holding up.

It was some kind of grey plastic cylinder that had a red button on top, but it had been stained by the blood.

Ruby turned it around in her hand. “What IS this thing?”

“It looks like some kind of trigger.” Jaune said.

It took Ruby about a second and a half before she got her other hand ready to press the button.

Jaune’s arm immediately shot out faster than a lightning bolt and grabbed her wrist before she could press it.

“Whoa! Hey! What are you doing?”

Ruby shrugged. “Shouldn’t we try to see what it does?”

“We have no idea what it does yet,” Jaune said as he let go of her wrist. “What if it does something bad? Either way, I don’t think you should press the button.”

“...Yeah that’s a good point...”

She turned the cylinder in her hands for a bit, but when she accidentally twisted one half a bit too hard, she heard a small click.

“Huh?”

She pulled a little and the cylinder came apart.

She looked over to Jaune. “...Was it meant to do that?”

Jaune shrugged. “There was a click, so I think it was.”

She pulled the other half away, to reveal a number of wires connecting some kind of flashing blue beacon to the button.

“What the heck is this?” She asked, narrowing her eyes on the beacon.

“I don’t know much about electronics,” Jaune answered. “But I think it’s some kind of wireless connection thing. So if someone presses the button, it sets something with the same beacon inside off or something.”

Ruby put the cylinder back together. “...Huh. But why would Scarlet even HAVE this thing?”

“Beats me. The guy was a complete enigma.” Jaune looked over at the body uneasily. “And even in death, he still kinda is one...”

Ruby shivered a little.

“Either way,” He went on. “It looks like we’ve seen all we needed to see here. Thank god for that...I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be looking at a dead body for much longer...”

Ruby agreed. “Yeah, same...” She turned over to see if she could find Blake. “You find anything?”

Blake, who had evidently been searching the bleachers, shook her head. “No, it doesn’t look like there’s anything here.”

Ruby was about to ask her something else, when Velvet’s voice piped up from below the stage.

“Uh...” She said, with a nervous twinge in her voice. “...Guys?”

Ruby turned around in the direction of her voice, immediately noting the worry in her tone. “What is it?”

“...You might wanna take a look at this...”

Ruby immediately went to find the ladder, climbed down and ran to where Velvet was.

She couldn’t believe what she saw.

A small pistol was lying next to where Velvet was crouching down, as well as a number of scraps of fabric covered in blood.

But the most notable thing was a longsword, that had been stuck into the ground with it’s blade covered in blood.

A longsword with an all-too familiar glint across it’s blade.

“Is that…!?” Ruby started as Jaune arrived behind her.

He nodded. “It is. This pretty much proves what Yang said earlier.”

“Huh?” One of Velvet’s ears folded over in confusion. “What are you two talking about?”

_Oh yeah,_ Ruby thought. _None of team CFVY were there when we found that sword yesterday._

“Basically,” Jaune explained. “When we were investigating here yesterday, I found that sword.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Yang offered to take it off my hands, but...Someone had knocked her out and stolen it from her before Scarlet died.”

“Hmm...” Velvet’s ears crinkled a little as she thought. “Well that explains why this is here I guess...But then there’s this.” She picked up the gun to show them.

“Is it loaded?” Ruby asked.

She shook her head. “First thing I checked. It’s completely empty, but it does show signs of recent use.”

“It does?” Ruby said, confused. “Are you sure?”

Velvet’s ears folded over in irritation. “Of course I’m sure! I’ve been studying weapons for a long time, I know how to tell when a gun has been recently used!”

“S-sorry...”

“It’s just that there weren’t any bullet wounds on the body.” Jaune said.

“There weren’t? Hm...” Velvet cocked her head to the side. “Then it has to have been used for something else...”

Ruby then took notice of the bloodied scraps of fabric nearby. “What about those?”

“Yeah, I’m not too sure about these either.” Velvet picked up two of the many scraps in each hand to show them; one appearing thin, and the other appearing thicker and with a large button. “Some of them feel like the kind of material you’d make a shirt with, but some of them are definitely some kind of leather.”

“Huh.”

“Might be part of someone’s clothing or something.” Blake said from above them. Ruby looked up to notice that her teammate was now leaning on the edge of the stage and had apparently been listening to them.

Velvet shrugged. “Maybe. But all of this is so confusing...”

“Preaching with the choir on that one. I mean, this is the first time we’ve even tried to solve a murder as far as I know, so of course it’s confusing.”

Ruby shook her head. “I still can’t believe that someone here killed him...”

Velvet nodded slightly in agreement then looked off to the side sorrowfully. “I barely got to know him...Poor Scarlet...”

“Yeah...Why would someone do this!?”

“What happened yesterday, maybe?” Blake proposed.

“Huh?” Ruby looked up to face her.

“Bear in mind that this is just a theory, and I don’t really want to believe it either,” She continued. “But he did attack Jaune completely unprovoked yesterday.” One of her ears folded over slightly under her bow. “Maybe someone used the resulting distrust as a motive.”

“So you’re saying someone killed him just because of that!?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it’s likely.”

“So it’s likely that,” Jaune added. “After Scarlet attacked me yesterday, someone thought he’d be a danger to the group. So they used that opportunity to kill him...”

Velvet nodded. “Yeah, that sounds plausible...”

“Yeah, but killing him just for that!?” Ruby argued. “That’s ridiculous!”

Blake shrugged. “A motive’s a motive.”

“Either way,” Jaune said. “I feel like we’ve seen all we need to see here.”

Velvet nodded. “Yeah. You think we should tell Coco what we found out?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

Ruby nodded in agreement. “Alright. Let’s go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and there was also that gun,” Ruby explained. “But it was empty, and there were no bullet wounds on the body.”

Ruby, Jaune, Velvet and Blake had left the Colosseum, and while Velvet had run off the meet Yatsu and Blake had gone to talk to Yang, Ruby and Jaune were relaying the evidence they had found to Coco and an accompanying Fox at the bottom of the stairway.

“There were also a bunch of scraps of fabric next to them,” She continued. “Velvet said some were leather and some were from clothing.”

“Only thing was they were too bloodsoaked to tell what they were from.” Jaune added.

Coco pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. “...Huh.”

“My guess would be that that blood is Scarlet’s.” Fox said. “I mean, I didn’t see the crime scene, but going by the general reaction from everyone else, he was pretty badly messed up.”

“Wait, what?” Jaune started. “How could you not see the-?”

Fox raised an eyebrow.

“...Oh.”

“That aside,” Ruby said, fishing the device she took from Scarlet out of her pocket. “I also found this on his body. But...I’m not sure whether it’s important or not.”

“Gimmie that,” Fox held out his hand, allowing Ruby to give him the device. He felt over in his hands for a few seconds. “...Huh...It seems like it’s some kind of trigger.”

Fox immediately went for the button.

Coco grabbed the device from him before he could press it. “No! Don’t press the button!”

“Why not!?”

“We have no idea what it does yet, it could do something dangerous!”

Fox eventually relented. “...Good point...”

“But whatever it is,” Coco continued, handing it back to Ruby. “It’s pretty weird that he had it.”

“Weird’s an understatement,” Ruby replied as she put it into her pocket. “This is everyone’s first time dealing with a crime scene, so this is all alien to me...”

“Speaking of,” Fox spoke up. “You, Yang and that Ayana guy were the ones who first found the body, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“How did you end up there in the first place?”

“Huh? Well, uh...” Ruby started. “Sage and I were trying to find Scarlet and we happened to run into Yang on the way there, and we stopped at this fountain nearby and there was a bloodstain on it, and the bloodstain lead to a trail and the trail led here.”

“Interesting...” Coco mused.

Fox, however, had more questions. “Yeah sure, but why?”

“Why what?” Ruby asked.

“Why were you looking for Scarlet in the first place?”

“Oh, well we said we’d continue our conversation from last night and I just wanted to meet up with him.”

Everyone suddenly went silent.

Fox’s blank eyes narrowed on her suspiciously. “...WHAT conversation?”

It was at this point that Ruby realised that she had let what she had said slip out without realising and now looked incredibly suspicious.

“U-uh…!” She stammered. “He just wanted to talk to me about some stuff last night! Since I was getting tired we weren’t able to finish it, so we agreed we’d finish in the morning!” Her speech became quicker and more panicked as she went on. “Th-that’s it! I promise! IhavenothingtodowiththemurderIswear-!”

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down!” Fox said, raising his hands as if to calm down a scared animal.

“Why didn’t you say that to me earlier?” Jaune asked.

“I don’t know...” Ruby said sheepishly. “I didn’t think it was important...”

“It evidently is,” Coco said, putting a hand to her chin. “As if what you’re saying is true, then you’re probably one of the last people to see Scarlet before he was killed.”

“H-huh!?” Ruby said, startled.

Coco nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, the majority of us were at the courtyard, but he was never there.”

Jaune put his hand to his chin. “That’s...Odd.”

Fox shrugged. “Far as I know, he was a pretty odd guy.”

“Wait,” Ruby said, turning over to Fox. “Were you in the courtyard with everyone?”

“Eeyup.”

“Did you see anyone leave?”

Fox deadpanned her. “...Okay, I’m just gonna wait a few seconds until you realise what just came out of your mouth.”

It took a few seconds before Ruby eventually realised.

“Gaaah!” She lightly punched her head a few times. “Why do I keep doing that!?”

“Hey, no need to beat yourself up about it.” He raised an eyebrow. “...Literally.”

“How do you even-!?”

“Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I’m deaf, Ruby.”

“Oh yeah...”

“Hey,” Jaune said, trying to get Ruby’s attention. “I was in the courtyard too! And I also saw some people leave.”

“Wh-!?” Ruby spun around to face him. “Why didn’t you say that!?”

Jaune shrugged. “You were already asking Fox.”

Fox laughed to himself at the irony of the situation, prompting Coco to elbow him in the side, causing him to shut up and say a halfhearted “sorry”.

Ruby ignored them. “So who left?”

“Well,” Jaune put his hand to his chin, as if searching his memory. “First to leave were Ren and Nora. They left at the same time together.”

Fox nodded. “That checks out, they’re practically dating without realising.”

Coco elbowed him in the side again. “Fox…!”

Jaune shrugged. “Nah he’s right, they really are. Anyway,” He continued. “Yang was after them. Then Mercury, and finally Yatsu. As a matter of fact...” His eyes narrowed as he looked off to the side thoughtfully. “It kinda looked like Yatsu was following him.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? Why?”

“Hell if I know.” He nodded towards Coco. “He say anything to you?”

Coco shook her head. “No, but he did say something to Velvet. I didn’t hear all of it, but as Mercury was leaving, he said something along the lines of ‘I think I should keep an eye on him, I’ll be back in a minute’ or something like that and left.”

“Hm...” Ruby thought. “That’s DEFINITELY weird...”

“Well we know for sure that Yatsu left,” Fox said. “Since Coco saw him herself. And we can also confirm that Mercury left as well because of that. But how do we know you’re not lying about the other people?”

“I do!” A voice piped up from nearby.

The group turned around to notice that Penny had joined them.

Fox raised his eyebrows. “Huh. Speak of the devil.”

“I can confirm that your friend is telling the truth,” Penny continued. “Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie and Yang Xiao Long all left the courtyard before the discovery of the body.”

“...Oh. Okay the-”

“However,” She put her hand to her chin. “There is something that Jaune neglected to mention.”

“Huh?” Ruby asked. “What is it?”

“Yatsuhashi wasn’t the last person to leave.” Penny pointed at Jaune. “He was.”

“What?”

“Yes. And he didn’t return until the announcement went off.”

Everyone looked over to Jaune.

“...Well, I was gonna say it before Penny showed up,” He explained. “But I had just left because I needed something to drink.”

Coco put her hand to her chin, eyeing him up suspiciously. “...Hm.”

“…...Why are you looking at me like that?”

Coco didn’t say anything.

Penny decided to speak up instead. “But as a matter of fact, that’s not why I came here.” She looked over to Ruby. “Ruby, Emerald had asked me to fetch you. She said it was important.”

“Huh? She did?” Ruby asked.

“Yes,” Penny affirmed. “It may be a crucial piece of evidence to the case, and I believe it essential for me to take you there right now.”

“Well, uh...Okay.” Ruby nodded.

“Mind if the rest of us come with?” Fox asked. “I’ve been meaning to see how the others are doing anyway.”

Penny nodded. “I doubt that will be a problem.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the courtyard. Fox and Coco had already split off to talk to Yatsu and Velvet, leaving Jaune and Ruby with Penny.

“Did Emerald say what she needed Ruby for?” Jaune asked.

“No,” Penny replied. “She just said that she wanted to see Ruby as a matter of urgency.”

“Right...”

While they were walking, Ruby spotted someone in the crowd.

It was Sage.

While the other people were either talking amongst each other or trying to investigate, Sage was just...Standing there. Arms folded and with a vacant gaze.

Ruby immediately tried to get his attention.

“Hey!” She said, waving. “Do you want to help us in-”

Sage noticed her before she could finish. His eyes widened a little in shock, but instead of joining the three of them, he looked away with an undiscernable expression and walked off.

“...Vestigate…?”

Jaune put his hand on his hip. “...Well that was rude.”

Penny put a finger to her chin. “And seemingly uncharacteristic.”

“Well,” Ruby said, remembering what Scarlet had said the night before. “I guess he must be going through a lot right now...”

“Is he?” Penny asked, cocking her head.

“Oh,” Ruby realised that she needed to provide some context. “Well him and Scarlet were dating for a while and-”

“HIM AND SCARLET WERE _**WHAT!?**_” Jaune exclaimed.

“You didn’t know either?”

“Of course I didn’t know! I...” Jaune stopped. “...As a matter of fact it kinda makes sense.”

“Eeh?” Penny just looked confused. “What do you mean by ‘dating’?”

“Oh, well, you see,” Ruby started to explain. “When a boy and a girl like each other very much-”

“Both Scarlet David and Sage Ayana are male.”

“Sorry, I’m not good at dating talk...Anyway,” Ruby continued, realising she was getting sidetracked. “They were dating for a while, and Scarlet even said they knew each other since they were kids.”

“Ohh...” Jaune slowly put his hand to his chin, as if connecting a number of dots in his head. “So _that’s_ why Sage was the only person he really ever talked to...”

“And it appears that the two of them were very close,” Penny mused. “So it makes sense that Sage is behaving strangely...”

Jaune looked off to the side sorrowfully. “Makes me feel bad for the guy...”

Ruby slowly nodded in agreement. “Same...”

Nobody said anything for a while.

Eventually Ruby heard Emerald’s voice calling her not to far away.

“Hey, Ruby! Over here!”

“Ah-!” Ruby spun around to the direction the voice was coming from.

Emerald was kneeling down next to one of the open hallways leading into the Academy building and was waving her over.

Ruby sighed. “I guess that’s my cue...”

Jaune nodded. “See you in a bit, okay?”

Ruby nodded back and started walking over to where Emerald was.

Penny waved her off. “Good luck!”

It didn’t take long for Ruby to reach her.

“Huh, guess the Atlas girl isn’t as bad as I thought.” Emerald smirked as Ruby knelt down next to her.

“Hey, don’t be mean!” This earned Ruby a laugh in response, so she decided to change the subject. “What did you need me for?”

“Well, when I was looking around, I noticed something...Weird.”

“What kind of weird?”

Emerald lightly pushed one of the panels in the wall, causing part of it to fall inside.

Ruby’s eyes widened. “OH.”

“Yeah. That kind of weird. But that’s nothing!”

Emerald pulled the panel out of the wall and put her hand in the space inside.

Ruby leant in to get a closer look. “...Yeah I’m pretty sure that’s what walls with panels do-”

“Give me a second…!” Emerald put her other hand in and lifted something out from inside the wall.

That something appeared to be a small metal box.

“What IS that…?” Ruby asked.

“Hell if I know. Wanna see if we can crack it open?”

Ruby shrugged.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Emerald replied, already prying at the top of the box to try and get it open.

It didn’t take long for the top to pop off, revealing what was inside.

What was inside was a large crystal, hooked up with multiple wires to a familiar blue beacon.

Ruby recognised the beacon immediately, causing her breath to hitch a little.

Emerald didn’t seem to notice, and was more focused on the crystal, which she recognised as…

“...Yup. That’s Dust, alright.”

“Dust?” Ruby echoed. “Where did this dust come from? We haven’t been able to find any!”

Emerald put a hand to her chin. “Maybe someone did and just didn’t say...” She put the top back on and put the box and panel back.

Then she realised something.

“...Actually...Can you try pushing the panel on the other side for me?”

“Huh? Oh, okay.” Ruby nodded and crawled over to the other side of the hall.

Sure enough, as soon as she pushed the panel (probably a little harder than she intended), it fell right in and on top of an identical metal box.

Ruby gasped. “There’s another one!”

“Is there?” Emerald noted. “That’s _really_ weird. Might be something to do with the murder probably...”

Ruby nodded and put the panel back.

When she turned to face Emerald, she noticed a number of bandages wrapped around her left leg, with blood slightly staining it’s way through.

“What happened!?” She asked, pointing over to the bandage area. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Emerald looked over to where Ruby was pointing. “Oh right, I’m fine. That’s just something that happened earlier.”

“What happened earlier?”

“Well, before the announcement when we were all in the courtyard, I tripped and fell.” She grimaced. “Badly. So I asked Merc to go and get some bandages from inside, but he didn’t come back until the announcement went off and we found that Scarlet guy’s body.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

“Yeah, literally the first thing he did after we all left was sprint inside to get-”

“No, not that, I-” Ruby said, remembering what Jaune had said earlier.

“_Yang was after them. Then Mercury, and finally Yatsu. As a matter of fact...” His eyes narrowed as he looked off to the side thoughtfully. “It kinda looked like Yatsu was following him.”_

“Hello? Hey, space cadet, you in there?”

Ruby snapped back to reality, only just realising that she must have spaced out for a few minutes.

“Oh, uh...” Ruby started to get back up. “...I need to go.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve just realised something and...I need to talk to Yatsu.” Ruby had already turned around and started running off.

Emerald got back up and called after her. “What, not even gonna say goodbye?”

“SORRY! BYE!” Ruby called back as she continued running.

Once Ruby had completely gone out of sight, Emerald laughed to herself. “...I like her.”

Ruby didn’t know if she had accidentally used her semblance or if she was just a really good runner, but it didn’t take her long to find Yatsuhashi.

As in she ran into him.

Literally.

“OhgodI’msososorryIdidn’tseeyouandIwasrunningsofastand-” She babbled, repeatedly bowing her head and spewing out constant apologies.

“Don’t worry,” Yatsuhashi replied as he pulled himself back up and dusted himself off. “I’ve been meaning to find you, actually.”

Ruby stopped apologising. “Eh?”

Yatsuhashi nodded to her. “You wanted to find me. You go first.”

“Right, well uh...” She started, not sure how to word her question. “Jaune said to me earlier that it looked like you were following Mercury into the academy and I just wanted to know why.”

Yatsuhashi’s eyes narrowed.

“...Huh. Talk about a coincidence.”

“Huh?”

“The matter I wanted to talk about was about Mercury too.”

“Was it?” Ruby asked. “So what happened?”

“I was never sure of him from the beginning,” He explained. “I’m not sure why, but I didn’t trust him. It probably sounds like I’m being too judgemental, but I never really did.”

“Is that why you followed him?”

He nodded. “Exactly. I had a feeling he was planning something, so I decided to tail him to make sure he didn’t cause any trouble.”

His expression darkened. “However...He must have sensed my presence.”

Ruby cocked her head in confusion. “What makes you say that?”

“Because,” He pulled something out of a pocket on his outfit. “He suddenly pulled this on me.”

It was a butterfly knife.

A butterfly knife that Ruby instantly recognised.

_That’s...The knife that Scarlet and Jaune and I found yesterday!_

“I was able to take it off of him after a brief struggle, but,” Yatsuhashi continued. “I doubt he would’ve been able to do anything with it.”

“Huh? How come?”

“Look.” Yatsuhashi lightly traced a finger across the blade, and showed it to Ruby to reveal that it hadn’t cut him. “It’s completely blunt.”

Ruby took a closer look at the butterfly knife. Yatsu was right; something had dulled the blade and had practically rendered it unusable.

“Why would Mercury pull a blunt knife on you?”

Yatsuhashi shrugged, putting the knife back. “Either he didn’t realise or he was desperate. Honestly could be either. Or both.”

Ruby wanted to say something else, but didn’t know what else to say.

This just didn’t add up.

She clearly remembered Scarlet taking the butterfly knife for himself the day before, and she never saw him give it to anyone else.

The knife was also in perfect condition when they found it, but something had completely dulled the blade.

So what happened to it? And how did Mercury even get it in the first place-?

DING-DONG-DONG-DING!

“Wha!?”

The familiar chime blared out of the nearby speakers, causing everyone to suddenly go uneasily silent.

Beochi’s voice followed not too long after.

“Everyone!” He announced. “Well done for sticking to it and investigating the murder! But here’s hoping you investigated enough, because it’s time to put that evidence to the test! It is time for the class trial!”

Ruby froze.

_It’s time for the trial already!? But we barely know anything!_

“It is the time for the spotless against the blackened, good against evil, hope against despa- blah blah blah, you get the gist.” He continued. “You wanna know who killed the edgelord pirate? Now’s your time to find out! So head to the announcement room on the double! I’ll see you there~!”

The speaker crackled for a few seconds before fading out.

Nobody said anything for a bit, but it didn’t take long for a nearby Coco to take the lead again.

“Well you heard him. We should head there.”

“Wh- now!?” Yang objected.

“Yes, now. This is our chance to find out who Scarlet’s killer is!”

“But none of us know how to solve a murder!” Nora argued.

“That’s why we were investigating,” Coco continued. “So we could get as much evidence as we could to catch the bastard who committed murder.”

Ruby wanted to object. She still had at least a hundred questions about everything she found, and felt too confused to solve a murder.

And above all else, she was scared.

But deep down, she felt a drive.

An immeasurable anger at whoever dared to kill Scarlet was that would slowly but surely reach it’s boiling point.

She was already saying something before she knew it.

“Coco’s right.”

Everyone suddenly turned to her direction.

Ruby stopped.

_Did I actually just say that? Oh god I actually just said that…_

However, despite her opposing thoughts, she kept talking.

“We have to go to this trial to find Scarlet’s killer, right?”

_What am I saying?_

“It’s the only thing we can do figure out who’s behind this.”

_OH GOD WHAT AM I SAYING!?_

Coco, who was eyeing her with surprise as soon as she finished talking, gave her a small but proud smile.

“Not bad. I knew you had it in you.”

Ruby stopped. “Wait, really? I had practically said all of that without realising it-”

“But you still wanted to say it, didn’t you?” She put a supportive hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “That means you want to figure out who the killer is.”

Despite still being terrified over what would potentially happen, Ruby steeled herself and nodded.

“More than anything.”

“Good.” Coco replied. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” She turned around and started to walk towards the academy building. “You coming or what?”

Ruby nodded and walked into the building after her, as everyone else slowly but surely followed.

Beochi clapped his hands together. “Well done! You all made it! I didn’t think you’d get through this stage. I’m proud of you!”

His statement was met with silence.

Beochi’s face fell. “Ugh, you’re all a bunch of party killers, aren’t you?...Well, party killers and one ACTUAL killer. Which is who you’re gonna expose now! And I feel I should mention,” His grin turned even wider. “I was preparing a _very_ special punishment for you-know-who while you all were investigating!”

The atmosphere seemed to take a sudden dip as soon as Beochi said the word “punishment”, as nobody knew what the punishment awaiting the killer actually was.

“So what,” Jaune asked, breaking the silence. “Are we gonna hold the class trial in here with you staring at all of us?” He looked around the announcement room. “Not really a good place for a trial if you ask me.”

“I already warned you about back-sass, blondie.” Beochi growled. “And no. We’re not gonna be holding the trial in here.”

“Why’d you bring us here, then?” Neptune asked.

“Because, the _entrance_ to the trial room just happens to be here!” He rubbed his hands together with glee. “Drumroll, pleeeeaaaase…!”

He snapped his fingers.

All of a sudden, a rumbling sound filled the air as the wall behind Beochi split in two. The two sides slid away from each other, revealing a large room blocked off with some kind of mesh wall, with a red light above it.

With a comical “ding”, the red light turned green and the mesh wall – or rather, door – moved out of the way.

It was an elevator.

“Tadaaaa!” Beochi said excitedly, presenting this new arrival to everyone. “This elevator will take all of you to the trial room! I customised the size to make sure.”

“What the hell…!?” Yang said under her breath.

“T-that’s impossible!” Weiss objected. “There was never an elevator there!”

“Keyword ‘was’, Ice Queen.” Beochi corrected. “I may or may not have done some, let’s call them, refurbishments.”

Mercury shook his head. “This is so many levels of fucked up...”

“Well, we have to go through with it, don’t we?” Ruby said, the drive still fuelling her, albeit shakily. She turned over to Beochi. “This does take us to the trial room, right? And not to some...Elaborate death trap?”

Beochi nodded with a smile. “Yupyupyup! I promised the trial would be the next stage, didn’t I? I may be murderous, but even I gotta play fair.”

Yang’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t believe that for a second...”

“Hey now, Barbie Doll. No need to get sidetracked, you have a killer to catch!” He leapt off of the podium and beckoned the students to enter the elevator. “Come on. This way.”

Ruby shakily nodded and was about to take a step forward.

However, to her surprise, before she could take that step, Sage was already walking ahead of all of them.

He eventually turned around to the rest of them when he got to the elevator and spoke for one of the only times after they discovered Scarlet’s body.

“What are you all waiting for? Do you want to find this murderer or not?”

Ruby was still a bit shook that he had said anything, but eventually steeled herself.

“Let’s go.”

Sage nodded slightly in agreement everyone eventually walked into the elevator.

The elevator was very big as Beochi had promised, almost being more like a lift for moving stock across a warehouse rather than being for actual people.

The “ding” sounded again as the door closed and the elevator began a slow descent.

It was at this point that Ruby realised she was standing next to Sage, who had his arms folded and his eyes closed. Sage had always seemed closed-off and intimidating to her, but he now seemed even more closed-off and intimidating than usual.

“U-um...” Ruby asked. “...Are...You okay?”

Sage didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry about what happened...We’re gonna catch whoever did this. Don’t worry.”

Sage didn’t say anything, but nodded slightly instead as a form of affirmation.

Ruby nodded back, and turned around to realise that everyone was staring at her.

Ruby froze a little. It made sense as she was the only one to have said anything, but it was still unnerving to have so many eyes on her at once.

She eventually steeled herself.

“...We’re gonna catch whoever did this.”

The elevator came to a screeching halt and, with one final “ding”, the door opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this chapter took so long, uni and life in general was being a pain  
But hopefully you enjoyed everyone investigating!  
Thank you for actually reading this! <3  
Please put your killer theories in the comments! (I'm interested to see who you think the killer is)


	8. All Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial for the first murder begins.  
But as the first stages of the murder case start to be solved, it turns out the killer isn't the only one with something to hide...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the fastest I've ever gotten a chapter done.  
Yeah, I'm surprised too.  
I just suddenly had a massive writing kick recently and got the majority of the chapter done in one day, so...Yeah!

Ruby wasn’t sure what she expected when the elevator door opened.

The trial room was...Almost beautiful in a way. The floor was made of a white marble with a red carpet in the centre, and had white marble pillars in a circle with thorny vines dotted with white roses climbing across them. Despite being underneath the academy, the walls had the occasional stained glass window with brilliant light pouring through.

However the centrepiece of the trial room were 19 podiums, all arranged in a circle at the centre of the room, with a throne hovering behind some of them.

And reclining on that throne was Beochi himself.

“Tadaa!” He gestured with his hand across the room. “Welcome to the trial grounds!”

“Oh my god...” Ruby couldn’t help but put her hand to her mouth in shock. Had this been under the academy the whole time?

“You certainly put a lot of time into this.” Mercury remarked.

“Certainly did!” Beochi nodded. “Anything for my students! Now, your podium should have your name engraved on it, so make your way to your podiums!”

Fox folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

Beochi groaned. “Your podium’s inbetween Rich Kid and Bunny Girl’s, they’ll help you.”

Everyone soon made their way to each of their podiums without any further protest. Ruby eventually took her place at hers, with Mercury on her left and Sage on her right.

Once everyone got into place, Beochi got things started.

“Aaaaaand here we are!” He said, clapping his hands together. “Our very first class trial! So I guess it's only fair that I give you idiots a rundown of the rules: Here, you will discuss and solve the case with the evidence you've got and vote for who the killer is. If you're right, then only the killer will be punished. However, if you're wrong...”

His grin widened. “The killer gets off scot-free and gets to escape, and I'll punish everyone else!”

“With someone else.” Ren corrected.

“Eh?”

“The motive you gave us.” He continued, turning his lotus flower over in his hand. “Scarlet's death was after you announced it, so the killer will be allowed to leave with someone else. Have you decided to renounce that already?”

“Of course not! I'm a man of my word, after all. Just as Ninja-Boy said, the killer will be allowed to graduate, along with someone else of their choice!”

“And...” Ruby started nervously. “The killer is definitely one of us?”

“Of course! I mean, we can't rule out suicide, but the killer is definitely one of you!”

_So the person who did this to Scarlet is right here..._Ruby thought with a shiver. _That’s not a nice thing to think about..._

However, her thoughts were cut short by Sage.

“One more question.”

“Yeah?” Beochi asked, tilting his head in Sage’s direction. “I’m all ears, Timelord.”

Rather than saying anything, Sage simply pointed to the podium next to him.

Ruby had to lean forward a little to see what he was referring to, and soon wished she didn’t.

The podium next to Sage was completely empty, aside from a framed portrait of Scarlet, with a pink X across his face styled to be two swords crossed over each other.

“...Is that...Really necessary?” Sage asked.

“Why, of course!” Beochi answered nonchalantly. “Just because the Edgelord is dead, that doesn't mean that his seat won't be filled during the trial! And...” His tone darkened. “Doesn't looking where your beloved friend could be standing fill you with despair...?”

Sage didn’t reply. He just looked down and clenched his fist.

“Anyway,” Beochi continued. “without further ado, let's begin!”

“Begin with what, though?” Yang asked. “Do you just expect us to know how to solve a murder?”

“I guess the first thing we should do is talk about everything we know so far.” Mercury replied.

Fox nodded in agreement. “He’s right. It would be way too hard to look at the big picture before putting together any of the pieces.”

“Oh! Like a puzzle?” Penny suggested.

Fox shrugged. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

“And there’s still a lot we don’t know,” Pyrrha explained. “So talking through what we know so far could help us figure things out.”

“So let us begin the discussion!” Penny started confidently. “The victim of this case is Scarlet David!”

Mercury raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, we knew that already.”

“His body was found in the colosseum,” Coco explained. “...And in a pretty bad state at that...”

“Yeah!” Yang agreed. “Me, Ruby and Sage found him there!”

“I think main question right now is what he was doing there.” Jaune suggested.

“The killer must have moved the body there!” Sun answered. “To delay it’s discovery or something like that!”

Ruby shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Don’t you remember? There was a lot of blood on the stage, but no sign that his body had been moved.”

“Hm...” Sage put his hand to his chin. “Yeah, that’s right. If Scarlet's body was moved from one place to another, then some of the bloodstains would be in a swipe pattern.”

Ruby nodded in agreement, glad that Sage was being more cooperative.

“But what if the killer carried him rather than dragging him?” Blake asked. “That wouldn’t have left a swipe pattern.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Yatsuhashi answered thoughtfully. “If the killer did carry him, then some of the blood would have dripped, right?”

“Yeah, but remember what led us to the colosseum in the first place?” Yang rebutted. “There were drops of blood heading in that direction!”

“But if the killer did carry him,” Emerald replied. “I think there would’ve been a lot more of a blood trail than there was.”

“Yeah,” Nora agreed. “The dude was pretty badly messed up...”

“Okay, so that rules out moving the body,” Jaune said. “But then how DID Scarlet get there?”

“He...Must have headed there himself.” Ruby replied. “Actually,” She turned over to Yang. “You saw him heading there, right?”

Yang nodded. “Yeah, I did. On my way into the academy. I wasn’t able to see too much of what was going on, but he was definitely heading in that direction.”

“So what,” Mercury said. “He got slashed and ran there to die? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Well, I don’t think that’s what happened.” Jaune suggested.

“Huh?”

“There were two slashes on the body, but the file Beochi gave us said that only one of them was the fatal blow, remember?”

“That means...” Ruby said. “That the killer attacked him before he got there!”

“So he likely ran to the colosseum to hide,” Velvet added. “But the killer followed the blood trail and finished him off...”

“Okay, sure. But is there any way to prove that was the case?” Mercury countered.

“The blood trail, for starters.” Sage answered. “It’s obvious the source wasn’t the colosseum. As a matter of fact, there’s another piece of evidence that pinpoints where he was attacked.”

“Wait, really?” Neptune asked.

Sage nodded over to Ruby.

“Huh? Oh, right!” Ruby realised. “When Sage and Yang and I were looking for him, we found a bloodstain on a fountain nearby where the colosseum was. It also had a pretty decent lookout over the courtyard too.”

“The fact that there was a bloodstain there means that he had to have been attacked there.” Sage added, shooting a look over to Mercury. “Is that enough proof for you?”

Mercury raised his hands in mock defence. “Okay, okay. I believe you.”

“So he was attacked by the killer nearby the fountain and headed to the colosseum to hide,” Emerald said. “That must’ve been the point Yang saw him.”

“He must have expected the killer to give up when faced with all those stairs,” Weiss continued. “However, they must have been hellbent on killing him, because they followed him there anyway and finished the job.”

“Driven by the motive, probably.” Neptune agreed.

“Right, so now we know the ‘where’ and the ‘why’,” Penny explained. “The next thing we should discuss is the ‘how’.”

“As in how he died?” Mercury replied. “Are you dumb or what? Slash wound to the chest.”

Penny jumped back in alarm at the insult. “...I was actually referring to the murder weapon...”

“We have an answer for that too, actually.” Velvet said. “Someone had thrown a longsword over the edge of the arena, and it was covered in blood. And as a matter of fact...” She looked over to Yang.

Yang seemed to get what she meant immediately. “Wait, what!?”

“Yeah, remember that longsword Jaune found yesterday and you took off his hands?” Ruby explained. “That.”

Mercury shrugged. “Well that was easy. She’s the killer.”

Yang recoiled. “Huh!?”

“Isn’t it obvious? She had the sword and it turns up as the murder weapon. I reckon we should just vote now.”

“W-wait, hold on!” Ruby stammered. “We can’t decide that yet!”

“Seriously?” Mercury pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

“She has an alibi.” Jaune said bluntly.

“Wait, what?”

“She has an alibi for the murder.” He continued. “I was getting worried about that sword since the time limit was going down, so I asked her if she could check on it.”

“Yeah,” Yang affirmed. “It was there when I went to my room, but someone snuck up behind me and knocked me out. I have no idea how long I was out for, but when I came to, the sword was gone.”

“So what you’re saying is the killer knocked you out and stole it?” Sun asked.

“That does appear to be the case,” Sage answered. “They must have chosen that weapon specifically to frame you.”

“What!?” Yang exclaimed, before her aura flared up. “That motherfucker!”

“So does that mean the killer has to be someone who went into the academy after she did?” Penny asked. “That might be a problem, because quite a few people left after her.”

“That’s a pain...” Coco adjusted her glasses. “Remind me, who all went into the academy building?”

“Ren and Nora left first together, followed by Yang, Mercury, Yatsuhashi and Jaune.”

“Hm...”

Yang had an idea. “Hold on! I think I know who the killer could be!”

Ruby turned over to her. “Huh? Really!?”

“It has to be...” Yang pointed at Ren and Nora. “THOSE TWO!!!”

“WHAAAAAAT!?” Nora exclaimed.

“Yeah, what?” Ren seconded.

“Think about it!” Yang continued. “They’re ALWAYS together, aren’t they? The motive Beochi gave us was perfect for them!”

“But we have each other’s alibis!” Nora argued. “We just went in there to have some tea, that’s it!”

“But what if you’re covering for each other?” Mercury asked.

Ren’s eyes narrowed on him. “...Excuse me!?”

“If the two of you worked together and left at the same time, you could easily say that you had each other’s alibis.”

“Not to mention there were two of you!” Yang seconded. “Both of you could’ve ambushed me and Scarlet easily!”

“This is stupid! Neither of us are the killers!” Nora whined.

“Let’s put this together! When I got to my room, she whacked me on the back of the head while he sneakily took the sword! Then, when they found Scarlet, one of them managed to distract him while the other delivered the first slash! Then when they chased him to the arena, one pinned him down while the other finished him off! The killers are you two-!”

“No, that’s wrong!” Ruby countered.

“What?” Yang stopped. “How is it wrong? It’s very clearly them! The facts add up!”

“Well it would work in theory, but...They kinda don’t add up.”

“And why’s that?” Mercury questioned.

“Weren’t you paying attention when Penny was listing all the people who left?” Sage replied. “Ren and Nora left before Yang did. And if Yang’s account is right, then whoever knocked her out and stole her sword left after she did.”

“Well…What’s to stop them from waiting until I got to my dorm room?” Yang suggested.

Sage put his hand to his chin. “...That is a valid point...” He turned over to where Ren and Nora were standing. “It’s pretty unlikely, but Ren and Nora aren’t exactly in the clear yet.”

This earned him a glare from Nora.

“Besides, we’re still very early in the trial. We can’t exactly go around accusing people just yet.” Ruby explained.

“So what CAN we talk about next?” Yang asked.

“Well, what about the other stuff we found at the scene?” Jaune suggested, looking over to Velvet. “You found some other stuff with the sword, right?”

Velvet nodded. “Yeah, some bloodied scraps of fabric and an empty gun.”

“A gun?” Neptune asked.

“It must have been a weapon drop someone picked up without telling us. It also showed sign of recent use.”

“But that makes no sense,” Sun argued. “There were no bullet wounds on Scarlet’s body!”

“Who’s to say it was used on him?” Weiss said.

“Huh?”

“It’s already been confirmed that the lethal blow was from the sword. And since there were no other wounds on Scarlet’s body, then the gun definitely wasn’t used on him.”

“But then what WAS it used for?” Penny asked.

“What if Scarlet had it on him? Maybe he fired a few times at the killer when he was being chased.” Fox suggested.

“Well if that was the case, it’d be pretty damn easy to tell who the killer is.” Mercury replied.

“How come?”

“Because they’d have an obvious gunshot wound, dumbass.”

“...Oh.”

“Well, what if he just...Missed?” Yang asked.

Sun shook his head. “No, Scarlet wouldn’t miss. Never knew much about the guy, but from a year of him being my teammate, I’ve learned that he’s a pretty damn good shot.”

“Oh yeah,” Penny nodded. “His weapon was a flintlock pistol, right?”

“Yup. Never missed once, as far as I can tell.”

“So what,” Mercury said. “We’re ruling out Scarlet having the gun because someone said he’s a good shot? That’s pretty dumb if you ask me.”

“We’re not ruling it out just yet, it just seems unlikely.” Blake answered. “But the whole matter of the gun is too confusing for now...”

“Yeah, preaching with the choir on that one.” Neptune agreed.

“What about the fabric?” Coco asked.

“Oh yeah! There were also a number of scraps of fabric nearby where the sword and the gun were.” Velvet replied. “They were pretty bloody though, so I couldn’t tell what they were from...”

“I think we can reasonably assume that the blood is Scarlet’s.” Yatsuhashi said. “I think the question is where the fabric came from.”

“Velvet, could you tell what kind of fabric it was?” Sage asked.

“Well, a couple of the scraps were definitely some kind of leather,” Velvet explained. “While the rest of them were the kind of stuff you’d make clothing out of.”

“Hm...”

“You thought of something?” Coco asked.

Sage paused to think, before saying “What if some of the fabric belonged to the killer?”

“The killer!?” Ruby repeated.

“Think about it.” He continued. “They had to get close to Scarlet to deliver the two blows. And going by how much blood was on the scene, they would have gotten a lot on their clothing.”

“So the first set of scraps has to be the killer’s attempt at destroying their bloody clothing!”

Sage nodded. “Precisely.”

“Yeah, but that’s only one of them.” Emerald said. “What about the leather?”

Ruby stopped to think, and after taking a mental gambit, eventually came up with a potential option.

“Did you ever go to the storage room?”

“...There’s a storage room?”

“I’ll take that as a no...Anyway,” Ruby continued. “You could get a bunch of random stuff there. And I’m pretty sure I remember seeing a bunch of leather satchels.”

“_Leather_ satchels? Like what Velvet just said?” Nora asked.

“Yeah, that’s what made me think of them.”

“But what would a leather satchel be doing at the scene of the crime?” Ren asked.

“Well...” Ruby stopped to think. “The killer had to take a change of clothes with them, right? Maybe they took one so they could easily carry them.”

Nora shrugged. “That checks out.”

Jaune stopped. “...Hold on.”

“Huh? What is it?” Ruby asked.

“Ruby, you just think of something. It’s a massive shot in the dark, but...” He continued. “I think I know what the gun was for.”

“Really?”

“The satchel was also in scraps too, right? So maybe...The disposed of their clothing by stuffing their bloody clothes in the satchel, throwing it off the edge of the stage and shooting it a bunch of times with the gun!”

“That would explain why the scraps were so mixed up!” Velvet agreed.

“And why the gun showed signs of recent use, even though Scarlet didn’t sustain any gunshot wounds...” Sage nodded towards Jaune. “Good deduction.”

“Huh? Oh, uh, thanks I guess.” Jaune replied.

“So now we know what the fabric and the gun were from,” Ruby said, happy that they were making progress. “That’s a step forward!”

“I guess that’s how the sword and the gun got there too,” Penny added. “The killer tried to hide them by throwing them over the edge of the stage.”

Mercury rolled his eyes. “Pretty sloppy job if you ask me.”

“Mercury! That’s insensitive!”

“What? If the killer wanted to get away with this, they could’ve done a better job of disposing of the murder weapon!”

“Maybe they were on a time crunch,” Ruby explained. “Since someone was probably gonna notice that Scarlet was missing soon, they just panicked and didn’t think about that.”

Mercury shrugged. “That’d explain it.”

“So we’ve talked about how Scarlet died, and addressed the murder weapon and the gun,” Pyrrha explained. “But there is still a lot we don’t know.”

“Yeah,” Sun seconded. “To start us off, Scarlet was attacked by the killer at that fountain, right?”

“Well because of the bloodstain, we can assume so.” Coco replied.

“What the hell was he doing there!?”

“Well, I-”

Coco stopped. The whole courtroom went silent.

“...That’s...Actually a really good question.”

“Yeah, I get that he’s not really a people person,” Sun continued. “But if he didn’t want to be with the rest of us, why would he go to the trouble of going to the fountain when he could’ve just stayed in his dorm?”

Nobody said anything to counter that.

_He has a point…_ Ruby thought. _What WAS Scarlet doing at the fountain in the first place?_

“Maybe...The killer wanted to meet him there?”

“I doubt that.” Sage answered. “We didn’t find a note or anything on his body to indicate if that was the case. And besides, Scarlet’s not stupid. He can see a death trap coming a mile away.”

“...What if...The killer just asked him in person?”

“Like I said, he’s not stupid.”

“So the only answer is...He went there of his own choosing?” Penny questioned.

“Yeah, but why?” Yang asked.

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Sun exclaimed.

“That...IS really weird...” Ruby said.

“Exactly,” Pyrrha said with a nod. “That is one of the many reasons why I doubt this trial is far from over.”

Everyone seemed to agree.

_I...Never actually THOUGHT about that until now…_ Ruby thought. _Scarlet had no real reason for being at the fountain, didn’t he? That WAS definitely where the killer first attacked him because of that bloodstain that Sage and Yang and I found, but why was he there? I mean...You could see the courtyard pretty well from there...But-_

Ruby’s train of thought was cut off by Emerald speaking up.

“There’s also another thing.”

“Is there?” Pyrrha asked.

Emerald nodded. “Yeah, something weird I found when we were investigating.”

“She’s right,” Ruby confirmed. “She showed me after I finished at the colosseum.”

“I don’t know if it even has anything to do with the case, but I did find it pretty odd.”

“What was it?” Coco asked.

“Y’know that massive hallway opening leading from the academy to the courtyard?”

“Yeah, like a massive doorway.” Jaune said. “Pretty sure they made it that big because of how many students there are.”

“Well, two of the panels in the walls were loose.”

Sage looked to her, his eyes widening a little. “...Really?”

“Not just that,” She continued. “Someone had put something inside the walls.”

“Yeah,” Ruby added. “These boxes. Inside there were dust crystals connected to a flashing blue beacon.”

“Wait, dust? As in, ACTUAL dust?” Neptune asked. “We haven’t found any since we got here!”

“Maybe someone found some and never told us.” Weiss suggested.

“Wait, hold on a second.” Jaune stopped them again. “Ruby, what was in the boxes again?”

“Dust crystals.” Ruby answered. “Connected to a flashing blue beacon.”

“Yeah, weren’t you listening?” Mercury taunted.

“Shut up!” Jaune argued, before turning back to Ruby. “A flashing blue beacon? You _sure_ you got that right?”

Ruby shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t get why you’re-”

The pieces suddenly came together in her head.

She realised why Jaune was putting emphasis on the blue beacon.

“...Oh! OH!”

“What is it?” Sage asked.

Jaune answered for her. “When we were getting a closer look at Scarlet’s body, we found something in his hand.”

Sage turned over to Ruby. “Did you?”

“Yeah!” Ruby answered. “It was like this plastic cylinder thing, and it had a red button on top.”

“You could take it apart pretty easy too,” Jaune continued. “And guess what was connected to the button.”

“A...Flashing blue beacon?” Nora asked.

“Bingo.”

“So that thing was connected to the boxes,” Ruby explained. “So that means that thing was a trigger!”

“And when you pressed the button...” Jaune mimicked an explosion. “Boom.”

“So you’re saying...Those things were BOMBS!?” Sun exclaimed.

“Trigger was connected to beacon. Beacon was connected to dust crystals. Press the button, you set the beacon off. You set the beacon off, you set the dust off. You set the dust off, massive explosion.”

Velvet shivered. “That’s horrible…!”

“I’m with Velvet on this one,” Fox agreed. “Who would set up something like that?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” Yang replied. “The killer!”

“Why would the killer set bombs up?” Emerald asked. “They already had a murder plan, so why overcomplicate things?”

“Maybe they wanted a failsafe in case Scarlet got the upper hand or something like that, hoping that if any of us got too close we’d end up being killed and they’d still take advantage of the motive or something.”

“Yeah, but then why would Scarlet have the trigger?” Mercury asked.

“...Maybe...” Yang suddenly clicked her fingers, as if to show that she thought of something. “Him and the killer had a fight!”

“That was pretty obvious from the start, blondie.”

“I’m not done!” Yang argued. “Maybe Scarlet figured what the killer was gonna do, took the trigger off them and bolted!”

“That would explain why the killer was so hellbent on chasing him.” Yatsuhashi seconded.

“Yeah, but if they were so adamant on setting the bombs off, why didn’t they?” Nora asked.

“Maybe they abandoned their plan due to getting Scarlet’s blood on their hands.” Ren suggested.

“But it kinda invalidates their whole plan, doesn’t it? I mean, why go to the trouble of setting bombs up if you’re never gonna use ‘em?”

“And then there’s the fact that Scarlet still had the trigger on him,” Sage explained. “If the bombs WERE set up by the killer, they would have taken the trigger off of him, no?”

“Actually...” Ruby said. “...They WOULD have…!”

“So who DID set them up?” Neptune asked.

“I think the best thing to do for now is getting a general area as to where the bombs were before they were set up.” Sage replied. “Beochi had said that he had scattered weapons all across the campus, remember? The bombs were most likely one of them.”

“So if we figured out where he had put them in the first place, we'd be able to figure out who set them up?” Ruby asked.

“I'm not sure, but it seems like a step in the right direction.”

“Well,” Jaune turned to face Beochi, who was still resting on his throne. “How about it, Beochi?”

The creature in question snapped to attention. “Huh? Wha?”

Jaune’s eyes narrowed. “Don't play dumb, you were listening to what we were talking about. Where did you put those bombs?”

“What bombs?”

Jaune was starting to lose his patience.

“The bombs that Emerald had found in the investigation! You scattered weapons all over the campus, right?”

Oh, of course!” Beochi recalled. “There were a whole variety of weapons, weren't there? I put a box of tripwires in one of the hallways, a sword in the arena's seating section, a pistol in the-”

Jaune was _really_ losing his patience.

“JUST GET TO THE DAMN BOMBS!”

“OKAY! JEEZ! Chill, Blondie! Chill!”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “Still haven’t answered the question.

“Et tu, Timelord?”

“Now isn’t the time for historical references, now is the time for answers. Spit it out.”

“UGH...” Beochi rolled his eyes. “You guys are no fun. Whatever, I’ll tell you ‘cus you asked.”

Beochi cleared his throat.

“The bombs in this case...Were underneath the arena stage!”

“That so hard? Okay,” Jaune nodded, turning back to the group. “We have a general area now. Any idea on who set them up?”

Sage put his hand to his chin and thought for a few seconds, before sighing and shaking his head.

“Unfortunately, no...”

Mercury groaned. “Well, THAT was a total bust...”

“But we DO know that it was someone who was in the arena before Scarlet's death. So that’s a start at least.”

It was at this point that Ruby realised something.

Something that she didn’t exactly want to realise.

_Wait...They were...UNDER the arena stage!? Then...That means…!_

“I...” She started.

Everyone turned to her.

“I...Think I know who set them up…!”

“Wait, you do?” Jaune asked. “How!?”

“We’ll focus on the how in a minute.” Sage answered before turning to Ruby. “Who do you think it is?”

“...Well...” Ruby started reluctantly, as she didn’t exactly want to accuse this person. “It has to have been someone who was investigating the arena, right?”

Sage didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then nodded. “...Yes. I...Literally just said that.”

“Well, if we're going by that logic, then...” Ruby continued. “There's only one person who could've set them up.”

Sage still looked at her, confused, not exactly realising what she was getting at.

Jaune, however, immediately figured out what Ruby was saying.

“Wait...” He sputtered, taking a step back. “You’re saying that…!?”

Ruby nodded. “...Yeah...I don’t really want to believe it either, but...”

It didn’t take long for the rest of the courtroom to realise what Ruby was suggesting.

“...Scarlet was the one who set up those bombs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN  
Yeah I don't know if the next part of the trial will come out as quickly as this one did, but I'm just glad I didn't have to make you guys wait so long like the last few times.  
But thank you so much for reading!  
Oh, and who do you think the killer is~?


	9. To Catch a Killer...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After suddenly revealing that the victim isn't as innocent as everyone thought, Ruby continues to try and unravel the mystery at hand.  
However, the killer may be closer than she thought...

“WHAT!?!?” The entire room exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know! I thought the same thing!” Ruby said. “But it had to have been him!”

“What do you mean, it had to have been!?” Sun argued.

“Yeah! There’s no way Scarlet would do that!” Neptune agreed.

“Frankly, I don’t want to believe it either,” Ruby continued. “But Scarlet had to have set the bombs up.”

Sage turned over to her, the look on his face suggesting that he felt...Betrayed.

“Ruby...What the hell are you saying…!?”

Now she _really_ felt bad.

“Do you even have any evidence!?” Sun argued. “Because if you don’t, there’s no way that’s-”

“She does, actually.”

Everyone turned over to Jaune when he spoke up.

“Wait, what?” Neptune asked. “What do you mean, there’s evidence!? There’s no way that he-”

“When Beochi opened up Amity Colosseum, a bunch of us investigated it.” Jaune explained. “Me, her, Yang, Ren, Pyrrha and Scarlet. And guess where Scarlet investigated.”

“If I’m remembering correctly,” Pyrrha replied. “He went under the stage.”

“But...That’s where-!” Nora started.

“Beochi said the bombs were. Exactly.” Jaune finished.

“But Scarlet said he didn’t find anything there!” Yang argued.

“I don’t know if you know this,” Mercury explained very sarcastically. “But there’s a little thing people do called ‘lying’.”

“Not just that,” Ruby recalled. “When I looked to see how he was doing, as soon as he saw I was there, I...I could’ve sworn I saw him kick something out of the way so I couldn’t see it!”

“He likely found the bombs then and there,” Ren added. “And kicked them out of sight so Ruby couldn’t see what he was doing.”

It was at this point that Sage suddenly decided to argue back.

“But..._She has no way of __**proving**__ that!”_

Everyone stopped at Sage’s sudden outburst. Even Sun and Neptune were a little taken aback by this.

“How do we know her vision wasn’t just playing up there!? There’s no way to prove that what she saw is what actually happened!”

“...Uh...Dude?” Sun asked. “Yeah, Scarlet obviously didn’t set them up, but can you please...Chill?”

“Look, the fact that the area he investigated yesterday just so happened to be the area that Beochi put the bombs is a bit more than a coincidence.” Jaune said. “But Ruby also saw him kicking something under the stage when she went to check on him. It lines up pretty well, doesn’t it?”

Sage clenched his fists and gritted his teeth a little, then sighed, apparently calming down.

“Fine, continue. But I still don’t believe you.”

Ruby’s face fell a little, now a bit dejected that Sage was no longer on her side.

“I think we should focus next on the how,” Pyrrha said, attempting a slight change of topic.

“As in how Scarlet set them up?” Fox asked.

“He didn’t set them up!” Sun argued.

Fox groaned. “Alright, fine. As in how the unknown person who is very obviously Scarlet set them up.”

“That’s the same thing!”

“Well, I reckon he had to cut the wall open.” Emerald explained. “The panels were very loose when I found them, and they can’t have come loose on their own.”

“With what, though?” Nora asked. “Would make no sense if it was the longsword.”

Ruby had an idea.

“Oh! There was something we found!”

Nora gave her a skeptical look. “‘We’?”

“Me, Scarlet and Jaune found it on our way to the arena yesterday.” Ruby explained. “A butterfly knife. Scarlet decided to keep it for himself but-”

“Hold on,” Yatsuhashi stopped her. “Did I hear that right? A _butterfly_ knife?”

Ruby nodded to confirm his suspicions.

“But...” He started. “That makes no sense…”

“Yatsu?” Velvet asked, one of her ears folding over in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Mercury also seemed to realise what Ruby was getting at, as his eyes subtly widened. “...Oh.”

But before he could say anything, Yatsuhashi was already pointing at him.

“Because HE pulled a butterfly knife on me earlier.”

“What!?” Coco exclaimed.

“I don’t really trust him, so I tailed him when he headed into the academy.” Yatsuhashi explained. “But when he noticed I was behind him, he immediately pulled a butterfly knife on me.”

“A-are you okay!?” Velvet stammered worriedly.

“I’m fine. He didn’t stab me and the knife was completely blunt anyway, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

All eyes in the courtroom turned towards Mercury.

Mercury looked at all of them in silence before sighing.

“Alright, I confess.” He said with a casual shrug. “I pulled a knife on him.”

Yang nodded. “...Alright. We have our killer.”

Mercury narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“You pulled a knife on Yatsu!” Velvet argued.

“And…? What’s that got to do with the case?”

“How do we know you weren’t heading into the building to start your plan?” Yang quizzed him. “And Yatsu saw too much, so you tried to gut him!”

Mercury folded his arms. “You cannot be serious. Do you SERIOUSLY think that I killed Scarlet?”

“Well...Yeah. It makes sense.”

“Yeah, no.” Mercury pointed in Yatsuhashi’s direction. “He has my alibi.”

Everyone looked over to Yatsuhashi to confirm this.

“Well, uh...” He started. “The announcement did go off when I was with him. So technically, I do.”

“What…?” Ruby muttered.

Yang groaned.

“See?” Mercury said with a smirk. “Told you I wasn’t the killer.”

“Shut up.” Yang snapped.

“...Okay...” Ren noted. “But what does Mercury pulling a knife on Yatsuhashi have to do with Scarlet setting up the bombs?”

“What part of ‘he didn’t set up the bombs’ is so hard to-” Sun started.

“Something that ties him to the case, actually.” Ruby said.

“What?”

“I said earlier that Scarlet found a knife yesterday, remember?” She explained. “A _butterfly_ knife.”

“Yeah, but what does-” Jaune started, before it suddenly clicked. “...OH.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that the knife Mercury pulled on me is the same knife that Scarlet picked up yesterday?” Yatsuhashi asked.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Ruby nodded. “And...I think I have proof of it.”

Sage folded his arms and gave her a skeptical look. “...Do you, now?”

Ruby was still disheartened that Sage appeared to no longer be on her side, but decided to soldier on anyway.

“Yatsu,” She asked. “When Mercury pulled the knife on you, it was definitely blunt, right?”

Yatsuhashi nodded. “Yes. What about it?”

“That means something happened to dull the knife.” Ruby explained. “Mercury, you didn’t use the knife on anyone or anything else, right?”

Mercury tutted and folded his arms. “No.”

“So that means that Scarlet had to have used it before it came into Mercury’s possession, right?” She continued. “Like, for cutting a rope, or cutting a box open, or...” She purposely hesitated to give her final point more impact.

“...Cutting out a panel of a wall.”

Sage took a step back. “W-what!?”

“Those walls are made of pretty hard material,” Ruby said. “So cutting them open did a massive number on the knife!”

“So he used that butterfly knife to cut the wall panel open before Mercury got a hold of it, right?” Jaune asked.

Ruby nodded. “Sounds like it.”

“Hold up, that doesn’t make sense!” Sun argued.

“Yeah, how did Mercury even get the knife in the first place!?” Neptune agreed.

Yang shrugged. “Why don’t we ask the man himself?”

Jaune turned over to Mercury. “How about it?”

Mercury shrugged. “It was literally lying outside of my door.”

“Wait, wha?” Neptune started.

“That night, someone knocked at my door.” Mercury explained. “I didn’t open it at first, since I’m pretty sure if I opened it right away whoever was standing there would stab me in the gut, so I just waited for whoever it was to leave. Didn’t take them long, though. Must’ve dropped their weapon, since the knife was lying there when I opened the door.”

“That someone had to be Scarlet,” Blake mused. “He was in possession of the knife at the time.”

“Yes, but why would he try to kill Mercury with a blunt knife?” Penny asked. “That’s completely illogical!”

“What if he didn’t?” Jaune suggested.

“Oh?”

“What if Scarlet left the knife there on purpose?”

“Why would he leave the knife there on purpose!?” Neptune argued.

“To frame him.”

The entire courtroom went silent.

“He...What?” Ruby stammered.

“Think about it.” Jaune explained. “He set up the bombs that night by cutting open the wall and putting them inside. The next morning, he headed outside and used the fountain as a vantage point. As I’m pretty sure the fountain you guys are talking about had a good view of the courtyard.”

“Actually...” Ruby realised. “You’re right! It does!”

“So that explains why Scarlet was at the fountain,” Weiss noted.

Jaune nodded. “Yeah. But say Scarlet’s plan DID work. He was able to successfully kill someone with the bombs. We go to a trial, and figure out that the killer set the bombs up by cutting out a panel in the wall. And wouldn’t you know it, Mercury just so happens to have a completely dulled butterfly knife in his possession. Foolproof, right?”

“What!? N-no, that’s crazy!” Sun argued. “Sure, Scarlet could be shady sometimes, but he wouldn’t try to kill anyone!”

“Well yes,” Penny started. “But the evidence is lining up to show that Scarlet did in fact try to kill someone.”

“What!? No it’s-!”

“The bombs were in the exact area he searched and the dulled knife Mercury had attempted to use against Yatsuhashi apparently belonged to him. Those are the facts that we have deduced, and they are very clearly spelling out that Scarlet had murderous intent.”

Sun was just about to argue again, when Neptune – he was in the podium next to him – grabbed his arm.

“Dude…!” He said. “As much as I hate to say it...” He sighed. “...I think it really was him.”

Sun stopped. Once Neptune finally let go of him, he looked down, dejected.

Sage didn’t say anything either. He simply just forced his eyes shut and turned away.

No-one said anything.

“...S-so...” Ruby managed to get out. “...It really was him, then?”

Nobody argued back this time. Almost as if the reality of what they had just figured out was sinking in.

“I guess now what he said that night made sense...” Ruby mused.

She mustn’t have realised that the rest of the courtroom could hear her, as everyone’s eyes turned on her.

“Oh, uh,” Ruby explained. “He had asked me to meet with him last night. And the last thing he said before I left was ‘I’m sorry’.” She sighed. “...I guess now I know what he’s apologising for...”

“...You met with him last night?” Sage asked.

“Yeah, he...Said he wanted to talk. But I was starting to get tired after a while, so he let me leave before him.”

Sage suddenly stopped, as if he had suddenly realised something.

Ruby noticed this. “...What? Did I say something?”

“Okay, try to remember.” Sage said, albeit a little shakily. “Did you see him go back into the academy when you went inside?”

Ruby stopped to think, then shook her head. “...No, why?”

The room went silent.

Ruby looked around, confused. “What? What is it?”

“Well...” Pyrrha started. “He must have used that time window to get the bombs from the colosseum and set them up.”

“Yeah...What about that?”

“Okay, I’m just gonna give it to you straight...” Jaune said with a sigh. “Ruby. Scarlet was using you.”

Ruby froze. “W-what!?”

“Think about it,” He explained. “You didn’t realise that you never saw him go back inside until just now, right? He invited you to talk just so he could use you as his alibi.”

“What!? N-no!” Ruby argued. “He just wanted to get some stuff off his chest! That’s all, right?”

She looked around, desperate to see if anyone would agree with her.

“...R...Right…?”

Silence.

She couldn’t believe this.

Scarlet wouldn’t do something like this. He was her friend. Planning a murder is one thing, but this…

Was she really just a pawn to him?

Ruby stopped, then looked down at her podium, eyes unfocused.

“...He...Used me…?”

Jaune nodded solemnly. “...I’m sorry.”

Ruby almost felt like she could just start crying now.

She had been used. By someone she looked up to and saw as a friend, no less.

She briefly looked over to Sage. He had his eyes forced shut again and was clenching a shaking fist.

She couldn’t imagine how he was feeling right now.

Ruby looked back down. “...N...No...”

“Aw, boo-hoo!” Beochi mocked from up on his throne, once again reminding the group of his presence. “How sad, your friend tried to kill someone! C’mon, why are you focusing on that when you have the one who ACTUALLY killed him in the room right now!?”

“Hey, not the time or place!” Weiss snapped.

“Yeah yeah whatever, Ice Queen.” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “But I’ve just jumped in to tell you that during all this talking, _you still have no idea who Scarlet’s killer is!_”

Ruby froze. “W-what!?”

“Use your brain, Little Red. You idiots have spent too much time talking about swords and guns and bombs and butterfly knives that you forgot to nail down a prime suspect!”

“So you mean...We haven’t made any progress!?” Yang exclaimed.

“N- we HAVE made progress!” Ruby argued. “We know a lot about the case now!”

“But nothing to pin down anyone specific.” Mercury replied bluntly.

Ruby stepped back in shock. Had they really not made any progress at all?

Coco, however, calmly adjusted her glasses.

“...Heh...Actually Beochi,” She said. “You’re wrong.”

Beochi cocked his head. “Eh?”

“I’ve had someone in mind for a while,” Coco explained. “And the evidence that’s been coming up is giving me more and more reason to believe they’re the killer.”

“What!?” Ruby exclaimed, as all eyes in the courtroom turned in Coco’s direction. “Who is it?”

Coco quickly pushed her glasses up again. “...It’s...”

She suddenly pointed at Jaune.

“You.”

“Wh- _me!?_”

“Yes, you.” Coco continued. “Don’t play dumb, Arc.”

“Wait, what!? How is Jaune the killer!?” Ruby argued.

“Quite a lot of the evidence we have lines up against him if you think about it.” Coco explained. “For starters,” She then pointed to Yang. “You. Who did you get that longsword from?”

“Me? Well, uh...” Yang started. “Jaune was the one who found it. He was pretty insistent that someone took it off his hands, so I offered to take it.”

Coco smirked. “Just as I thought.”

“Yeah, _Yang_ had the sword!” Jaune argued. “How does that make ME the killer!?”

“Oh really? Why did you want her to take it from you so much then?”

“Because I didn’t want to get targeted for it! Like, by a murderer, or-”

“During a trial, right?”

Jaune stopped. “...Well yeah, but-”

“Exactly. My current theory is that you gave her the sword on purpose. Just so you could frame her when you killed someone with it.”

Jaune froze. “..._What!?_”

“There’s more.” Coco continued, turning to Penny this time. “Penny, remind me. Who was the last person to leave the courtyard?”

“That would have been Jaune. Why do you ask?”

Coco smirked. “There we go.”

“Jaune was the last person to leave?” Yang suddenly turned to Jaune. “You’re the bastard who killed him and tried to frame me, aren’t you!?”

“Wh- hey! Hold on a second-!”

“I didn’t think you’d have the guts to do it, Arc.” Mercury mused. “But it evidently seems like I underestimated you.”

“H-hold on! You’ve got the wrong person! I’m not the killer!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Coco replied calmly. “You see, Jaune has a motive.”

“A motive?” Ruby asked.

“Well yeah,” Nora said. “The bombs, right? He musta found out about them and killed him to stop him or something.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Ren replied. “If Jaune had found out about Scarlet’s murder plan, he would’ve told us rather than silencing him by force.”

“Yeah, and this plan seems way too complex to just be a ‘I just found out your plan so I’m gonna have to kill you’ kind of thing.” Fox agreed.

Coco nodded. “Exactly, Fox. But if you all remember correctly, Jaune has a specific motive against Scarlet.”

“Really?” Ruby asked. “What is it?”

“...Remember what happened between them yesterday?”

Ruby froze.

“...Scarlet...Attacked him. For no reason!”

“Exactly.” Coco turned back over to Jaune with a glare. “And that gave you a personal vendetta, didn’t it?”

“That’s it, then!” Yang glared at Jaune with burning red eyes. “You’re the killer!”

“N-no, I’m not!” Jaune argued. “Seriously, this is all just a coincidence!”

“With one or two things, sure.” Fox shrugged. “But with all this, it’s looking less and less like a coincidence to me.”

“Jaune...” Pyrrha said, looking at him with a betrayed look in her eyes. “...Did you really do it?”

“Wh- no! I...”

It looked like Jaune was finding it harder to argue.

Ruby felt the same too. She wanted to argue back as well, but…

Suddenly, Sage’s voice cut through all the noise.

“Okay. Will all of you stop being absolutely braindead for five seconds?”

Everyone stopped and turned to him.

“What!?” Coco snapped. “What do you mean, braindead!? Jaune is very clearly the killer!”

“Not if you looked at the prior evidence for five seconds.” He turned to Yang. “Yang, please remind me. You saw Scarlet on your way to the academy, right?”

Yang nodded. “Yeah, he was running in the direction of the arena. Why?”

“Now, think about this for a second.” He explained. “Since Yang didn’t see the killer, we can reasonably assume that this is Scarlet heading to the arena to escape after the first slash was inflicted. However, Jaune left _after_ Yang did. Long after, as a matter of fact.”

“Yeah, so?” Coco asked.

“How did Jaune kill Scarlet if Yang saw him while the killer was chasing him?”

“Well a-”

Coco stopped. She looked down and thought for a second.

“...Huh.”

“See!?” Jaune exclaimed. “I told you! I’m not the killer!”

Sage nodded. “Exactly. Maybe if you looked at the evidence for longer you would’ve-”

He stopped. He then put his hand to his chin and looked down as if he was realising something.

Ruby didn’t notice and sighed with relief, glad that Jaune wasn’t the killer. “So then is there anyone else who-”

“Wait a second.” Jaune said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Huh?” Ruby asked. “What doesn’t?”

“I’ve...Just realised something.” He continued. Ruby noticed that his eyes were wide with surprise. “This doesn’t make any sense!”

Ruby stopped at the look on his face. “What?”

“Something’s not right here...” Jaune explained uneasily. “I’ve just realised...It’s impossible for there to be a killer!”

The entire room filled with dread.

Ruby froze. “W-what!?”

“So you realised it too, huh?” Sage noted. “Looks like I underestimated you, Jaune.”

“No wait, hold on!” Coco started. “Jaune, what the hell are you saying!? What do you mean, it’s impossible!?”

“Think about the evidence for a second.” Jaune explained. “And focus on everyone’s alibis. Then you’ll see what I mean.”

Coco did as he said and stopped to think. Her eyes suddenly widened in shock and she put a hand over her mouth.

“...Oh shit…!”

“H-hold on a second!” Ruby started, still very confused. “What the heck’s going on!?”

“What’s going on is someone’s lying.” Sage said bluntly.

“W-what!?”

“If you go through the evidence we have,” Jaune explained. “There’s one thing that essentially invalidates everything else. Not just that, but...It might also pin down our killer.”

“Eh?” Beochi stopped reclining for a few seconds and leaned in to listen. “I heard the words ‘pin down our killer’. I’m listening.”

“Stay out of this.” Jaune said dismissively before turning back over to Ruby, who was still completely confused.

“...I...Don’t understand.”

“Ruby, think. Think very carefully.” Jaune said. “Go through the evidence we have. What doesn’t make sense?”

Ruby nodded and decided to try and think.

_What could they possibly mean? The evidence has seemed to make sense so far, but everyone else is saying that someone has been lying...So what-_

It was at this point that it suddenly clicked.

_...No...No, that...That CAN’T be right! It just can’t!...But…_

Her fists shaking, she eventually nodded.

Jaune nodded back. “You got it.”

“Y-yeah...” Ruby said shakily. “You’re right. It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?” Mercury asked. “Can all of you stop being vague for five seconds and tell us!?”

Ruby took a deep breath.

She didn’t want to believe it, but...It had to be.

_The thing that doesn’t make sense..._

She turned over to her suspect with uneasy, yet gleaming silver eyes.

_It’s…! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER ENDING *DUN DUN DUUUUUUN*  
Yeah I know. I'm sorry, but I don't think the ending would have had as much impact if I revealed the killer then and there.  
(and it also gives you guys the chance to theorise who Scarlet's killer could be, owo)  
Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
And since there's not much time until the killer is revealed, What do you guys think Jaune, Sage and Ruby found out?  
Please leave your theories in the comments while there's still time!


	10. ...To Betray a Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After realising a noticeable hole in the evidence surrounding the murder, Ruby manages to reluctantly hone in on the killer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took a bit longer, I was having trouble writing the execution scene at the end.  
I suck at writing death scenes haha

“...Your alibi.”

Yang gave Ruby a confused look. “Huh?”

Ruby was pointing a shaking finger at Yang.

“...Your alibi...Doesn’t make sense.”

“What? What do you mean?” Yang asked. “I went into the academy, I saw Scarlet on my way in, then someone knocked me out and stole the longsword from my room. How does that not make sense?”

“Well...” Ruby started uneasily. “The killer stole your sword, right?”

Yang deadpanned her. “Yeah, we figured that part out ages ago-”

“But you saw Scarlet being chased by the killer on your way in.”

Yang froze.

“Aaaaand boom goes the dynamite.” Jaune said calmly.

“W-what the hell!?” Yang argued. “So now you’re saying I’M the killer!?”

“No, I’m not!” Ruby argued back. “You’re not the killer! But-”

“But she was lying about her alibi.” Sage cut her off. “If you’re not the killer, why did you feel the need to lie about your alibi?”

“Wh- Sage, you too!?” Yang sputtered. “You’re meant to be the smart one! How are you believing this!?”

“Yang. Answer the question.”

“I’m not lying!”

“You haven’t answered the question.”

“I don’t need to answer you, Sage! I didn’t lie!”

“Why are you avoiding the question, then?”

“But I-!”

“Yang. Answer me. _NOW._”

“Wait, I’m confused.” Nora said. “What are we arguing about?”

“Well, I just realised something.” Ruby explained. “...Well, technically Sage and Jaune realised it first, but...Remember what Yang said her alibi was?”

“If I remember correctly, she was knocked out by the killer when she got to her dorm.” Mercury replied. “Then the killer stole the sword from her and hacked up Scarlet with it.”

“Yeah, but here’s the thing. Yang said she saw Scarlet heading to the arena on her way in, and that’s likely when he was being chased by the killer.”

“Yeah, what about-” His eyes widened a little when he realised. “...Ooooohhh.”

“Oh what?” Nora asked. “I’m still not gettin’ it.”

“Think about this.” Sage said. “The sword that Yang had in her possession was the murder weapon the killer used against Scarlet. But according to her testimony, Scarlet was being pursued _before_ the killer attacked her. Now think carefully, what is wrong with this scenario?”

The courtroom went quiet.

“If what she’s saying is true,” Pyrrha said. “Then the killer had already approached Scarlet BEFORE they stole the sword?”

“But that makes no logical sense!” Penny countered.

“Precisely.” Sage’s eyes narrowed on Yang. “Which means it’s a total lie.”

“It’s not a lie!” Yang argued. “You don’t even have any evidence to show this!”

“Actually...” Ruby said. “I think we do.”

“Wh-!?” Yang turned over to Ruby. “Sis, please don’t tell me you’re actually buying into this!”

“Well...” Ruby continued uneasily. “The first slash was dealt at the fountain. That’s what got him to run in the first place, right?”

Jaune nodded. “Right.”

“But if Yang saw him being chased before the sword was stolen...How could the killer have dealt the slash in the first place if they never had the sword?”

Yang stopped. “...Well...U-uh...”

“See?” Sage said. “You were lying.”

“N-no I didn’t!” She pointed a finger at Mercury. “He had Scarlet’s knife, right? Maybe he inflicted the initial wound!”

Mercury raised an eyebrow. “...Seriously? We’ve already been over this, Blondie. Yatsu has my alibi. Not to mention I wouldn’t have been able to do much with the knife anyway, since Scarlet completely dulled it by cutting that panel loose, remember?”

“Not to mention we’d have to factor in the timing.” Penny agreed.

“Eh? What’s timing got to do with it?” Nora asked.

“No, I think I see what she’s saying.” Neptune replied. “If – AND I MEAN IF –” He shot a brief look at Mercury. “If Mercury was the killer and hit him with that butterfly knife first, then he’d have to go back to the academy to get the sword, right? That would’ve given Scarlet enough time to get away, wouldn’t it?”

“Well yeah, but-” Yang started.

“Not to mention,” Jaune continued. “Either me or Yatsu probably would’ve seen him.”

“And like I said,” Mercury shrugged. “Yatsu has my alibi. Dude was following me the whole time. If I knocked Yang out and stole that longsword from her, he would’ve seen and stopped me.”

“Yatsuhashi, can you confirm this?” Sage asked.

Yatsuhashi nodded. “Yeah, Mercury’s telling the truth.”

“Well...Uh...” Yang stammered, before pointing a finger at Jaune, growing more agitated. “He could still be the killer!”

“Wh- me AGAIN!?”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “Yang, we’ve literally just gone over how Jaune couldn’t be the killer. Based on your own alibi, no less.”

“Y-yeah, but if that was a lie, that means that he still could be the killer, right?” Yang said.

Sage gave her an incredulous look. “..._Are you being serious right now!? _You’re accusing him based on the fact that you lied about your alibi!?”

“She’s grasping at straws...” Blake noted.

Ruby turned to Yang. “Yang...What’s the meaning of this!?”

“W-why are you buying into this!? This is crazy!” Yang objected, trying to get the others on her side. “I mean, come on! I can’t be the killer, right!?”

“I know you’re not, but why did you lie about your alibi!?”

“Ruby, I didn’t lie! That’s what happened!”

“Yang,” Jaune explained. “When we’ve literally just proven that it’s a lie, you’re not helping your situation here by saying ‘I didn’t lie’ over and over-”

Yang slammed her fist on her podium, her aura burning and her eyes flaming red.

“_SHUT UP!_”

Half of the courtroom took a step back.

“I’ve already fucking HAD IT with all of you saying that I’m lying!” She ranted. “I didn’t lie, Scarlet’s killer knocked me out and tried to frame me! We’ve already been over this!”

“That’s looking a lot less likely now that we know your alibi was a lie.” Sage countered. “Now that I think about it, the framing scenario was likely a setup.”

“A setup!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“Think about it.” He continued. “She noticed that Jaune was eager to get that sword off of his hands, so she decided to look after it for him. She decided to use this scenario to her advantage, and set up a murder case to make it appear that she had been framed.” He eyed the increasingly angered blonde with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t usually commend murderers, but this was a rather impressive setup. You even threw me for a while.”

“So you’re saying...” Pyrrha asked. “The entire framing scenario was all faked!?”

“Exactly.” Sage said with a nod. “She made it look like she was being framed by a different killer, and stepped back and let us turn Mercury and Jaune into red herrings due to the evidence she gave us.”

“Wait, she did what!?” Jaune exclaimed. “She purposely set things up so everyone else would turn to us!?”

“That’s right. If me, you and Ruby didn’t take a closer look at her contradicting alibi, nobody would have suspected a thing.”

Mercury slowly put his hand to his chin, impressed. “...Huh.” He turned to Yang. “Not bad, Blondie.”

“B-but that’s all assuming that she’s the killer!” Ruby argued. “Which she’s not!”

“Yeah, but for someone who’s apparently not the killer, she’s looking pretty suspicious now, don’t you think?”

“Stop it! I didn’t kill him!” Yang snapped.

“Yang, I know you didn’t!” Ruby stammered, in a frantic attempt to calm her down.

Mercury threw his head back in annoyance. “Oh my GOD Ruby, stop letting your bias get in the way of finding the murderer!”

“What’re you- I’m not being biased!”

“Apologies,” Sage said. “But you are starting to be.”

“No, I’m not! She’s just not the killer!”

“Yes, but why?”

“She...She just can’t be, okay!?”

“Ruby, look. I know she’s your sister, but you can’t let personal feelings get in the way of an investigation.” Sage turned away and sighed. “...I already had to deal with that once today...”

“Wait, hold up.” Mercury said. “What’re you-?”

“You’re talking about Scarlet, right?” Jaune asked.

Sage didn’t say anything.

_I guess that’s a yes…_Ruby thought.

“Either way, the guy kinda has a point.” Mercury continued. “You’re being pretty biased here.”

“I’m...” Ruby stammered. “But...She just...CAN’T be the killer...Right...?”

Jaune sighed, slightly annoyedly.

“Ruby, quit letting your own feelings get in the way here.” He said, in a _way_ colder and harsher tone than usual. “The evidence is all pointing at _her _now. So suck it up and deal with it.”

Ruby stopped, not used to this kind of tone coming from Jaune.

But then she realised...Maybe…

He was right.

“Yang...” She started. “I don’t want to do this, I really don’t...B-but...Why is the evidence pointing at you...?”

Yang froze a little, clenching her fists. “W-what!? Ruby, not you too!”

“Yang, I honestly don’t want to do this! But everyone else is right, the evidence is all pointing at you now!”

“This...Uh...” Yang looked around frantically. “This...T-this is obviously another setup! Yeah!”

“ANOTHER one!?” Penny exclaimed.

“...You _really_ cannot be serious, can you?” Sage asked.

“Nonono, it HAS to be!” Yang convinced.

“But then,” Ruby said. “That would be saying that someone set it up so that it looked like you set up that someone was setting you up. That doesn’t make any sense!”

“...Okay, when you put it like THAT-”

“Yang, stop it! Just tell me why the evidence is-”

Yang slammed her fists on her podium again, her aura flaring to life and her eyes changing to a burning red.

“_FUCK THE EVIDENCE!_” She roared. “I’M NOT THE KILLER!”

Ruby took a step back. “Y-Yang!?”

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “You’re getting pretty agitated for someone who’s innocent.”

“There’s no way I would’ve gotten back in time, anyway!” She snapped. “U-uh...You two!” She frantically pointed to Sage and Ruby. “You two saw me, remember!?”

Pyrrha turned to them. “You did!?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” Sage confirmed. “When we were looking for Scarlet, as a matter of fact.”

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded. “She came out of the dorm looking kinda dazed when we walked past.”

“E-exactly! If I killed Scarlet, you two would’ve seen me going back into my dorm!” Yang argued. “So there! I can’t be the killer!”

“...That’s actually a good point.” Fox noted. “Considering the time that it would’ve taken to do all the stuff the killer did, they probably would’ve seen her.”

“True, but we did also confirm that the murder was rushed.” Emerald said. “The killer just threw the sword and the gun off the stage, remember?”

“Yeah, but even then, Sage and Ruby still would’ve seen Yang going through the door.”

“Going through the door...Fox, that’s it!” Ruby realised.

“Huh?” Fox stopped. “What do you mean?”

“I mean she did manage to get to her dorm,” Ruby explained. “Just _not through the door._”

“So you’re suggesting she climbed in through the window?” Weiss asked.

“Exactly! She probably even left the same way too, as to not risk Scarlet seeing her following him.”

“That makes sense,” Sage noted. “Good thinking, Ruby. You’re not too bad at this.”

“Huh? Oh, uh...Thanks, I guess-”

“T-that’s ridiculous!” Yang barked. “You’re saying I got back to my dorm by climbing up the wall and through the window!? That’s crazy!”

“Not really,” Jaune replied. “I mean, we got into Beacon in the first place since we’re the best of the best, right?”

“Exactly!” Nora agreed. “Climbing a wall is a teeny-weeny effort compared to killing a Grimm!”

“Yeah, scaling that wall would’ve been no problem for Yang. Not to mention,” He turned over to Ruby. “She walked out dazed right when you and Sage walked past the door, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Ruby replied.

“What if that was faked too?”

“What!?” Yang exclaimed. “Quit spouting bullshit!”

“Considering that she lied about her alibi, it does make sense.” Sage replied.

“Yeah,” Ruby agreed. “Combined with everything we know now, the fact that you just so happened to wake up from being knocked out was right when Sage and I walked past is pretty odd.”

“So basically,” Mercury said. “Blondie got back to her dorm room through the window, heard Sage and Ruby walking past and used that as an opportunity to play the victim and add to her alibi of supposedly being attacked. Fits pretty well, actually.”

“Well?” Sage asked, looking over to Yang. “Care to explain this? Go on, we’re waiting.”

Yang stopped, then growled and clenched her fists.

“This...This is another setup!” She pointed over to Ruby and Sage. “You two are behind this!”

“Wh- us!?” Ruby exclaimed.

Sage’s eyes narrowed. “_Excuse me?_”

“You’re the ones who accused me in the first place, remember!?” Yang argued. “And Ruby just so happened to be the last person to see Scarlet before he died! Both of you fabricated this whole thing!”

“...You aren’t actually serious, are you?”

“Of course I’m fucking serious! I mean, you’re a walking encyclopedia! You’re way more than smart enough to come up with a scenario like this!”

Sage brought his hand to his head in annoyance. “Uuuugh...” He put his hand down. “Alright, allow me to explain why that claim is even more braindead than the claims you’ve spouted so far.”

“_Braindead!?_”

“Point one.” He counted each point on his hand. “Ruby and I were both in our respective dorms at the time of the murder.”

“But there’s no way either of you can prove-!”

“Point two. Neither of us had seen Scarlet at all that morning, and had no idea where he was planning on going.”

“Well yeah, but-”

“And point three. Neither of us have any motive to kill him.”

“O-of course you do! The motive Beochi gave us, remember!?”

“True, but that would only benefit us if we were planning on saving each other. And if we were benefited by the motive at all, we wouldn’t have. I would’ve saved Scarlet, and Ruby would’ve likely saved you.”

“Y-yeah!” Ruby agreed. “They were together anyway, so why would Sage agree to kill him!?”

Everyone promptly went silent.

Ruby stopped. “...What, was it something I said?”

“...Would you PLEASE not announce that to the entire courtroom…!?”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Sage sighed. “It’s fine...Anyway, lastly, point four.” He folded his arms and glared at Yang. “There is literally no evidence pointing at us whatsoever.”

Yang stopped. “...I...U-uh...”

“Yang, were you trying to misdirect us again?” Ruby asked.

“No I wasn’t! Sure, I was wrong about that, but I’m still not the killer!”

“You do realise you’re only digging your grave deeper every time you deny it, right?” Jaune pointed out.

Yang growled and slammed her fists on the podium again. “To hell with that! I’m not the fucking killer!”

Ruby realised something and stopped. “...Actually...”

“What is it now!?” Yang snapped.

“I don’t really want to say it...But there is something you said that...Kinda confirms it.”

“BULLSHIT! There’s no WAY that-!”

“You said you only saw Scarlet for a few seconds, right? Just a fleeting glance on your way to the academy.”

“Of course I did! What the fuck does that prove!?”

“Well, if you only saw him for a few seconds, how did you know exactly where he was going?”

Yang froze.

“I was just thinking,” Ruby continued. “When you were reminding me of when Sage and I ran into you this morning, you yourself said that he was heading to the colosseum. But if you only saw him for a few seconds, how did you know exactly where he was going?”

“...I...Didn’t actually catch that.” Sage noted, as if impressed.

“Yeah, if Yang only saw Scarlet in a fleeting glance,” Blake added. “She wouldn’t have been able to discern the exact location he was heading to. But she was able to tell you.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.” She turned to Yang. “So how did you know exactly where Scarlet was going?”

Yang looked around, struggling to find something to say. “...I…...Uh...”

“Looks like she finally ran out of excuses.” Mercury noted.

So...That’s it then?” Nora asked. “She’s the killer?”

“Not quite...” Jaune answered. “I think we need to go over everything one more time. If all the pieces fit together, then we’ve got our culprit.”

Sage nodded. “That’s a good idea.” He turned to Ruby. “Ruby, care to do the honours?”

Ruby stopped. “Wh- me?”

“Of course. You’ve been the one leading this trial, haven’t you?”

“...I wouldn’t exactly say that...”

“Sage has a point,” Jaune said. “You’ve mainly been the one who’s figured everything out. So it only seems right that you put everything together, huh?”

“...Um...I guess.”

“So,” Sage turned to her again. “Care to do the honours.”

Ruby nodded and began.

“Right. Here’s everything that happened in this case.

This case is the result of two people's plans getting all tied up, and it all started the day before the murder, when we were investigating the newly opened colosseum.

The seed of this case was not one, but two weapons that were found at the arena.

The first was a longsword. This was found by Jaune in the colosseum's set of seats. He didn't want to keep the sword, in case that made him a target for suspicion or murder.

So someone offered to take it off his hands. This someone was the killer.

I’m not sure if they’d targeted their victim yet, but they were intending to make Jaune the primary suspect.

However, unbeknownst to anyone else, someone nobody expected was setting up their insane plan at the exact same time.

That person was this case’s victim, Scarlet David.

He had found a set of dust bombs underneath the arena stage, and was planning to use them himself.

However, taking those bombs out of the arena at that time would be too suspicious, so he left them under the arena stage, intending to collect them later, and didn't tell anyone about them.

Since he was searching under the stage at that time and said he found nothing, nobody except him knew those bombs even existed.

After briefly meeting with me that night, Scarlet started to put his plan into motion.

The first thing he did was collecting the bombs from underneath the arena stage. Since everyone was asleep, he was able to do this with relative ease.

He headed to one of the outer hallways leading to the courtyard, and used a butterfly knife that he found with Jaune and I to cut two of the wall panels out to give him access to the inside of the wall and set up the bombs inside.

That's right. Unknown to everyone else, Scarlet was planning a murder.

After setting them up, he carefully put the panels back and kept a hold of the butterfly knife and the bombs' detonator. His plan was to use that detonator to kill someone with his trap the next morning, but there was one last thing to set up.

On his way to his dorm, he left the knife in front of Mercury’s dorm room and knocked on the door, prompting him to later pick the knife up. This was to, if his plan worked, frame Mercury for the murder due to him having the now dulled knife in his possession. This explains how Mercury had the knife in the first place.

However, none of Scarlet’s plan ended up mattering in the end. Because the next morning, the _true_ killer’s plan began.

They were initially in the courtyard with a number of the other students, when Jaune asked them to check on the sword he had given them the day before. Unbeknownst to him, he had just given the killer their opening.

So they went back into the academy building, headed to their dorm, and waited for Scarlet to leave his, but not before taking three items from their dorm with them: the sword, a satchel, and a gun they must have found earlier without telling us.

Scarlet did leave his dorm room eventually, so the killer had decided to follow him. However, since could have been other people heading through the hall, following him through the hall while carrying a longsword was a bad idea. So the killer exited their dorm out of the window, scaled down the wall outside and followed him from there.

Meanwhile, Scarlet had headed to the fountain outside the academy building. He had chosen this area because the people in the courtyard couldn't see him, but he could see them to know when to activate his trap.

But this is when the killer found him, and attacked.

They sliced him pretty severely with the sword, causing the bloodstain on the side of the fountain.

Scarlet knew he had to get out of there, and the first place he thought of must've been the colosseum, so he headed there with the killer in pursuit. Because he was injured, this left a blood splatter trail across the ground.

He managed to get there, but not fast enough...As the killer arrived shortly after and finished him off.

Because of the severity of the attack, I can imagine that the killer got a lot of blood on them.

That's why they brought the satchel and gun.

They had put a clean change of clothes in the satchel, and replaced their bloody clothes with these. They then put the bloody clothes into the satchel, threw it high up off the stage, and shot it a number of times with the gun. This was to dispose of their bloody clothes, and resulted in the bloodied scraps of fabric Velvet found at the scene.

However, since someone was likely to notice that Scarlet was missing soon, the killer had to move fast. So in a rush, they disposed of their two weapons by throwing them off the edge of the stage.

However, due to their rush, they obviously didn’t notice that Scarlet was still holding the detonator. As a result, they had no idea about Scarlet’s murder plan until now.

The killer left the arena and went back into their dorm through the open window. This must have been when Sage and I walked past looking for Scarlet, so they used this as an opportunity to give themselves an alibi.

They stumbled out of their room pretending to be dazed, to make it look like someone had attacked them. However, when trying to help us find him, they accidentally let slip that they knew exactly where he was going.

As a result of this, it didn’t take long for the three of us to find Scarlet’s body.

The killer must’ve acted shocked like everyone else, but really...They were glad their plan worked out.

However, their plan comes apart here.

So, Yang...Did I miss anything?”

Yang didn’t reply. Her burning red eyes were wide and her fists were shaking.

“...I-I...” She started, before her eyes faded back to normal and she looked down to the floor, her burning aura fading. “...Ngh...”

“Is that a confession?” Jaune asked.

Yang didn’t reply.

“Wait, I...” Ruby started. “...I actually got all that right?”

“Looks like it...”

“...Yang...”

“Well~!” Beochi chimed, reminding everyone of his presence. “Looks like the trial is coming to a close!”

Yang looked back up. “H-huh…?”

“However, however, however! There’s only one last thing to do!”

Mercury groaned. “This has gone on long enough! How long do you want to drag this damn trial on for!?”

“Why don’t I show you, edgy?”

With a snap of Beochi’s fingers, small screens suddenly appeared at everyone’s podiums. On the left of the screen was a grid of 19 boxes showing each student – with Scarlet’s blacked out with an X across it – and on the right was a big red button that said “CONFIRM YOUR VOTE”.

“W-what is this?” Ruby asked.

“Why, Little Red, this is your voting grid!” Beochi explained. “I did say that you guys have to choose the killer, remember? This is your chance!”

“...Didn’t we literally just do that?” Mercury asked, annoyed.

“Well this is a chance to confirm your choice! Just remember that refusing to vote will result in a penalty! So will you make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one~?” He clapped his hands together and laughed. “Everyone, cast your votes now!”

Ruby looked down at her voting grid, and reluctantly clicked Yang’s icon and pressed the button to cast her vote. With a beep to confirm her vote, the grid folded away.

A number of other beeps echoed afterwards, signifying that everyone else was voting too.

Once evidently everyone had voted, Beochi grinned.

“All of your votes have been cast and counted! And now I can say that you got it…

RIGHT! The one who killed the emo pirate Scarlet David, is Yang Xiao Long!” He cheered and mimed throwing confetti. “Hooray, you all got it correct!”

Even though Beochi seemed elated, Ruby was anything but.

They had gotten it right.

Yang was guilty.

Yang was uneasily eyeing the ground, clenching and unclenching her fists.

“...So...” Ruby started. “...You really did kill him?”

Yang didn’t reply, but eventually slowly nodded.

“You-!” Sun started to charge at her, but Neptune grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Why?” Ruby started. “We were all gonna get out together! Why did you kill Scarlet!?”

“I just had to, okay!?” Yang objected. “I didn’t want to, but I had no choice! I had to kill him!”

Ruby stopped. “W-what?”

“What, so you knew about the bombs after all?” Jaune asked.

“No, I had no idea about that!” Yang countered.

“Then why did you have to kill him?” Sage asked coldly.

Yang looked back down to the ground. “...I...Needed to...After what happened yesterday...”

“You mean when he attacked me, right?” Jaune asked.

Yang shakily nodded. “Y-yeah, that.”

“But that didn’t affect you!” Sun argued.

“I know it didn’t! But I...Was worried...” She turned to Ruby. “Especially when I saw that you had invited him to help us...”

“W-what!?” Ruby stammered. “I was being friendly! What does that have anything to do with it!?”

“He attacked Jaune for no reason! I was scared he’d do the same to you!”

Everyone stopped.

Yang went on. “I was just scared, okay!? And I thought maybe I’d be able to save you with the motive!” She looked back down. “...I just wanted to protect you...”

Ruby looked at her pitifully. “...Yang...”

Yang looked around, as if trying to garner support from the others. “Th-the rest of you can see that, right…?”

Nobody said anything.

Eventually Blake spoke up. “...Yang.”

Yang looked to her, hopefully.

Blake’s ears turned down inside her bow as she glared at her. “What you did was disgusting. I can’t forgive you.”

Yang’s expression dropped and she looked away shamefully.

“B-Blake!” Ruby argued. “Wasn’t that too harsh!?”

Blake folded her arms and looked away.

“B- guys!” Ruby turned back around to face the others. “Are none of you gonna say anything!?”

“Y-yeah!” Yang agreed. “I didn’t kill him out of hate or anything! Doesn’t that make it better-?”

It was at this point that Sage finally snapped.

“_**JUST SHUT UP!!!**_”

Everyone took a step back in shock.

“Just because you wanted to protect Ruby doesn’t give you a ‘get out of jail free’ card for killing anyone! It’s bad enough that you killed Scarlet already, _but now you’re trying to JUSTIFY it!?_” He shook his head and turned away. “...I can’t believe you...”

Nobody said anything. Sage was usually such a collected and reserved person, so an outburst like this was something no-one expected.

“...Sage...” Yang started. “...I’m sorry, I-”

“This isn’t something you can apologise for.” He said bluntly. “...Just...Shut up.”

Yang turned her eyes back to the ground.

Ruby wanted to say something. But Sage was right. There was no justifying what she did.

It was at this point that Beochi spoke up.

“Well, I guess that’s it!”

“Wha?” Yang looked back up. “What do you mean, that’s it?”

“I mean, I loooove soaking up your despair, but this tearjerker schtick is getting boring. I can’t let this boredom put a damper on the action, so let’s just get things moving!”

“Get things moving…?” Ruby echoed.

“I mean, you all found the killer, so there’s only one step left!” He explained with a grin. “It’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…! _It’s punishment time!_”

“...Punishment time…!?”

“Jeez, it’s like I’ve got a class full of parrots...I told you about it when you found Scarlet’s body, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Ruby remembered. “You said that the killer would be punished, right?”

Beochi nodded. “Yupyupyup!”

“You, uh...Never said what that punishment was.”

Beochi started laughing.

“Well, uh...” Yang started. “Murderers usually get locked up, right? What, are you gonna throw me in a cell somewhere or something?”

Beochi continued laughing.

“...What?” Yang said, now getting nervous. “W-what’s so funny!?”

“Ohohoho...” Beochi laughed. “You’re not getting locked up anytime soon!”

“I-I’m not?”

“Oh, silly, silly, Barbie Doll...That may be how things worked in your world, but you’re in _my_ world now!”

His eye glowed, his teeth seemingly sharpening as he continued in a voice dripping with dread.

“_You see, I prefer to operate on an eye for an eye basis._”

It was at this moment when it finally dawned on everyone what Beochi’s punishment was.

Yang froze. “W-what!?”

“Ahaha! That’s right!” Beochi laughed. “The punishment for murder is **execution**!”

“E-e-execution!?” Yang stammered.

“Y-you’re gonna kill her!?” Ruby started. “N-no! I’m not gonna let you do that!”

She started to run to put herself between Beochi and Yang, but Sage grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Sage, let go of me!” Ruby shouted, fighting against Sage’s grip. “Beochi’s gonna kill her!”

Sage didn’t say anything. He simply tightened his grip around Ruby’s arm.

Yang was looking down, her eyes wide in terror.

“...N-no...” She muttered. “He’s...Not actually gonna kill me, right…?”

“Welp, that’s enough talking!” Beochi said. “It’s now high time to roll out the red carpet to hell!”

“W-wait a second!” Ruby argued, still attempting to get out of Sage’s grip.

“Sorry, you ran out of time!” Beochi chimed in a singsong voice. “I’ve prepared a very special punishment, so it’s time to get this show on the road!”

“N-no, please!” Yang attempted to fight back. “I’m sorry! I’m begging you, please don’t kill me!”

“Ah-ah-ahh! No more begging or excuses! You killed the emo pirate boy, so you gotta pay the price! Simple as that!”

“...N-no...No, no, no, no-!”

“Now, let’s give it _EVERYTHING_ WE’VE GOT!” Beochi said, pulling out a gavel and twirling it in his hand as a button appeared in front of his throne. “**IIIIT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!**”

“NOOOOOOO!!!!!”

He slammed the gavel down on the button.

_ **GAME OVER** _

_ **Yang has been found guilty. Time for the punishment.** _

Yang looked around desperately at the other students around her, as if looking for someone to save her.

Suddenly, a door nobody had noticed near the back of the trial room swung open, and a clamp attached to a rope shot out and snapped around her neck.

Ruby finally managed to get out of Sage’s grip, and reached her hand out to her sister just as she was dragged out of the courtroom.

Too late.

The rope pulled her into a dark room with seemingly no walls, and the floor being comprised entirely of thousands of upwards-facing pipes. The rope whipped around a steel pole surrounded by small pieces of wood, dragging Yang over and tying her to it.

Just as she started to realise what all the wood was for, Beochi appeared in front of her.

He was grinning and holding a molotov cocktail in his hand.

“_**The Dragon’s Judgement” - Yang Xiao Long’s execution**_

Beochi threw the molotov at the wood pile. With a fiery burst, the wood started to catch fire.

Yang panicked as the fire slowly climbed up the wood, and Beochi laughed as she struggled against the rope binding her to the pole.

The flames started to lick the edges of the rope, starting to burn it away. Yang realised this and struggled harder, causing the rope to eventually snap.

Yang leapt off the woodpile and shoved Beochi out of the way before bolting.

This was seemingly what he wanted, as he grinned and whipped out more molotov cocktails in his hands.

Yang desperately tried to run as molotov after molotov exploded behind and beside her, but she was determined. There had to be an exit somewhere, right?

Eventually, the explosions started to get further and further away.

Realising she must have lost him, Yang collapsed to the ground, her lungs heaving.

…

Why was the ground starting to feel hot?

She looked down.

All around her, small hot beads of burning light were appearing in the pipes that made up the ground.

Small, hot beads of light that were rapidly growing.

She gasped in horror as she realised.

The ground was made of flamethrowers.

Before she could get back up, fire exploded out of the ground beneath her, and she screamed as the mass of flames consumed her and burned her alive.

After what seemed like forever, the bloodcurdling screams came to a sudden halt as what was once Yang’s body crumbled into a pile of ashes.

“AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Beochi howled. “Consider the very fist execution a roaring success!” He jumped around on his throne and cheered victoriously. “WOOHOOO!!! My adrenaline is through the ROOF!”

Nobody could tear their eyes from the screen that just showed Yang’s execution, even when the video feed shut off.

“Wh...” Pyrrha started, horrified. “...What WAS that!?”

“That, my fair lady, is what awaits all of you if you disturb the peace!” Beochi explained cheerfully. “And this one went without a hitch! Not one! That calls for a celebration!”

“How the hell do you expect us to celebrate after watching that…!?” Coco said shakily. “Yang did something unforgivable, but did she really deserve to die like that!?”

“Why, of COURSE she did! You gotta taste the despair your victim felt if you’re willing to kill!”

“This is too much...” Velvet grabbed her ears and pulled them over, crying and shuddering. “This is just too much…!”

“W-whoa!” Fox ran over to her and attempted to reassure her. “...I don’t know how I’m supposed to reassure you after something like this, but...Don’t worry, alright?”

“How are we supposed to not worry after that!?” Nora snapped, before turning away and putting her hand over her mouth. “I think I’m gonna be sick…!”

Ruby didn’t – no, couldn’t – say anything. Her feet were rooted to the spot and her eyes were wide and glued to the screen.

She had just watched her sister burn to death.

She honestly didn’t know whether she wanted to cry or throw up.

Beochi continued. “Weeeell, it looks like I’m done here! The trial is over, the execution is over, so I have no business left here! I’m just glad that this went so well~” He have them a cheery wave. “Toodles~! See you all soon!”

With that, he vanished.

The resulting silence was almost suffocating.

Mercury shook his head. “...Fuck this shit...” He turned to walk to the elevator. “I’m out of here. You all do what you want.”

“Mercury, wait!” Emerald chased after him, the two of them leaving the courtroom.

Velvet was still shaking and sobbing, so Fox helped her up to her feet.

“Do you want me to take you back up to your dorm?” He asked quietly.

She nodded.

“I should come too,” Yatsuhashi seconded. “I don’t think I want to stay here much longer...”

“Alright then.” Fox said, as the three of them headed to the elevator.

This left Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Sun, Neptune, Sage and Penny all in the courtroom.

“...That was...” Penny started. “I don’t even think I can describe what that was.”

“I don’t think anyone can...” Coco agreed, pushing her glasses up.

Ruby shook her head, finally managing to get some words out.

“...Why…?” She said shakily. “Why is this happening…?”

Nobody had an answer to that.

Ruby dropped to her knees. “...Scarlet’s dead...Yang’s dead...Why is this happening to us…!? What did we do!?”

She finally broke down into tears.

“Ruby, I...” Weiss started, but stopped as she realised she had no idea what to say.

Nobody could say anything, really.

“...Hey.”

Ruby looked up to notice that Sage had walked up to her.

She looked away shamefully, feeling guilty for the fact that her sister had murdered the person he cared about.

Sage sighed and got down to her level, before gently turning her head back over with his finger. “You are allowed to look at me, you know.”

“I-I-” Ruby started, but Sage put his finger to her mouth.

“You don’t need to say anything.” He said. “I understand how you feel.” He turned away, gritting his teeth a little. “...You’re not the only person this trial hurt...”

Ruby stopped when she realised what Sage was saying.

Of course. Scarlet had planned a murder behind his back.

Not just that, he was also essentially murdered for no reason.

Before she realised it, Ruby had pulled Sage into a hug, causing the taller boy to flinch back in surprise.

“I’m sorry,” She sobbed into his chest, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry…”

Sage eventually hugged her back. “Hey, there’s no need to apologise.” He reassured. “Scarlet’s death wasn’t your fault. Yang’s death wasn’t your fault either. None of this was your fault.”

Ruby didn’t say anything. She just kept crying.

She felt like she could just keep crying forever.

_...Is...This what despair feels like…?_

She didn’t know.

She didn’t care.

**Chapter 1: In the Wake of Betrayal... – completed!**

Students remaining: 17

  * Team RWBY

    * Ruby Rose

    * Weiss Schnee

    * Blake Belladonna

    * <strike>Yang Xiao Long</strike>

  * Team JNPR

    * Jaune Arc

    * Nora Valkyrie

    * Pyrrha Nikos

    * Lie Ren

  * Team SSSN

    * Sun Wukong

    * <strike>Scarlet David</strike>

    * Sage Ayana

    * Neptune Vasilias

  * Team CFVY

    * Coco Adel

    * Fox Alistair

    * Velvet Scarlatina

    * Yatsuhashi Daichi

  * Mercury Black

  * Emerald Sustrai

  * Penny Polendina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, chapter 1 is finally over!  
Congrats to the people who correctly guessed Yang as Scarlet's killer! Hopefully the execution didn't suck TOO much...  
As for chapter 2...We're gonna be turning things up a notch~  
I hope you all enjoyed! And thank you all so much for reading until the end! <3


	11. Back to Somewhat Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after the harrowing class trial, Ruby isn't exactly in the best state of mind. But after a heart-to-heart with another student, things might not be so bad. Maybe.  
However, Beochi still has plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're at chapter 2!

“AH-!”

Ruby shot awake in a cold sweat.

She put the palm of her hand to her head and exhaled uncomfortably.

She had barely slept at all that night.

The sound of Yang screaming as she was being executed was still fresh in her mind, as was the sight of her torched body crumbling to ash.

Despite everything that had happened the day before, Ruby had hoped that this was all a bad dream. That when she woke up, she’d be back in her shared dorm with Yang prodding her awake to get her ready for class and training for the Vytal Festival Tournament.

But it wasn’t a dream.

Her sister was dead.

Not just that, her sister was a _murderer._

No matter how much she tried to force it out of her mind, she couldn’t deny that.

She threw herself back onto her pillow and hid under the covers.

She didn’t want to leave her room.

Maybe if she just stayed in bed forever, she wouldn’t have to see whatever Beochi had planned for the rest of this killing game.

Yeah, that could work.

Ruby hadn’t even been under the covers for ten minutes when someone knocked at the door.

She grumbled and held her pillow over her head, deciding to ignore it.

That didn’t work.

Whoever was on the other side knocked again.

Ruby groaned and threw the pillow to the side.

“Go away.” She croaked, her voice hoarse from both tiredness and tears from numerous attempts to cry herself to sleep.

“Hey, calm down. It’s just me.”

Ruby stopped when she realised Sage was on the other side of the door.

Now she felt even more guilty.

She covered her face with the pillow again. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to deal with this!”

“Hiding from the problem isn’t going to fix anything. You know this.”

Ruby threw the pillow at the door in an attempt to get Sage to go away.

That evidently didn’t work, as she heard an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door.

“...That wasn’t necessary.”

She grumbled and pulled the blanket over her head.

“Ruby.” Sage’s voice was a lot more stern now, like a disappointed parent. “Open the door.”

It became clear to her that he wasn’t willing to budge.

Ruby sighed and walked over to the door, quickly throwing the discarded pillow back onto her bed before opening it.

Sage’s eyes widened a little. “...You not sleep either?”

Ruby didn’t look in a mirror at all before crawling out of bed to open the door, so she had no idea what she looked like at the moment.

“Is it bad?” She grimaced.

He raised an eyebrow. “A bit.”

“Urgh...” Ruby groaned. “Wait, ‘either’?”

“Believe me, I tried. But after everything that happened yesterday...” He shook his head and sighed.

Ruby nodded solemnly, looking off to the side. “Believe me, I know how you feel...”

Neither of them said anything.

“...Sooo...” Ruby started. “Why did you want to see me?”

“As tempting as it seems, you can’t exactly ignore everything that happened yesterday.”

Ruby stopped, looking down uncomfortably.

“Everyone else is down in the dining hall.” He continued. “They’re struggling to deal with everything as well...I hadn’t been down there for long, but I noted that your teammates were starting to get worried about you.”

Ruby turned away. “...I don’t want to go down there...”

She started to head back to her bed, but Sage stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Ruby.” He said, in that stern voice again. “Trust me. Locking yourself in your bedroom is the worst way to deal with this.”

Ruby didn’t reply.

Sage sighed. “Look. I know we barely talked before this, but I know how you feel. The last day’s events caused both of us to lose someone truly important...But we can’t let that stop us from moving forward. That would just be giving Beochi what he wants, wouldn’t it?”

“Don’t you think I already know that?”

Sage stopped and took a step back, letting go of Ruby’s shoulder.

“I know that I’ll be giving Beochi what he wants if I just stay here,” Ruby continued. “But what else are we _supposed_ to do!? Two people have died! Anyone can die next!”

Sage sighed. “I know that...Trust me, I know how you feel...But staying in your room forever won’t solve anything.”

Ruby clenched her fist and sighed.

“...I’m scared, Sage...”

Sage nodded solemnly. “So am I.”

Neither of them said anything.

Sage took a step back from the door. “I’ll give you a few minutes so you can freshen up a bit. Meet you down there, alright?”

Ruby nodded. “Okay.”

Sage nodded back. “Good.”

He left, leaving Ruby alone in her room again.

She switched the lights on for the first time since she woke up. The cover had been left in a tangled mess and the pillow she haphazardly threw back on the bed before opening the door was lying in the middle of the bed.

Ruby immediately walked over and fixed it until it somewhat looked like a bed again, and in doing so caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Her hair was sticking up all over the place and she had very slight dark circles under her tear-reddened eyes from the general lack of sleep.

_Oh god,_ she thought. _Sage was right. I **do** look like a mess._

She immediately went to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water, hoping that would wash away everything that had happened as well as her tired look.

It didn’t. Both Scarlet’s blood and Yang’s screams were still fresh in her mind.

She shivered, before going to brush her hair.

Maybe she was better off not voting at all back then. Sure, Beochi said that there was a penalty for refusing to vote, but that would’ve been okay if Yang survived, wouldn’t it?

But going by how he never revealed the punishment for being found out as a murderer until the end of the trial, it’s likely that the penalty for refusing to vote was also being dragged to a horrible execution.

Speaking of executions, Ruby didn’t really know what to feel about Yang’s.

Sure, Yang had done something unforgivable. She had murdered Scarlet. Pretty painfully, as a matter of fact.

But was it really necessary for Beochi to kill her like _that?_

The way she died was awful. It was a fate she wouldn’t even wish on her worst enemies, if she even had those.

Hopefully after seeing how Yang got executed, that would discourage the others from killing anyone else.

...Hopefully.

Ruby had managed to fix most of her hair, though a few stubborn spikes still jutted out here and there.

_That’ll do for now._

After deciding she now had nothing else left to do in her room, she headed down to the dining hall.

The dining hall was just about as lively as she had expected.

Everyone was there, as Sage had said earlier, but nobody was talking at all.

It was a very jarring way to see the usually lively dining hall.

“Ah! Ruby!” Pyrrha noted, as Ruby walked in. “Are you feeling well?”

Ruby sighed. “...Debatable...”

She walked over and took a seat, next to Weiss and opposite Jaune.

“I assume you didn’t sleep at all after what happened, right?” He asked.

“Is it really that noticeable!?” Ruby protested, quickly running her fingers through her hair. “I spent ages trying to fix it!”

“No, not like that! Just with everything that happened, is all.”

“...Oh.” Ruby put her hands down. “...Right...”

The room was silent again.

As to be expected, the atmosphere was pretty grim. But since two of their friends had died yesterday – Scarlet having been murdered and Yang getting executed for it right in front of them – that was almost inevitable.

Mercury, who was calmly reclining on his chair next to Emerald (purposely set a short distance away from everyone else), had a different opinion.

“Jeez,” He grumbled. “What’s with the awkward silence? You’re acting like you’ve all come out of a funeral or something.”

“Um, we essentially did.” Penny pointed out.

“Yeah, two people died yesterday!” Weiss argued. “Learn some respect.”

“Respect? _Respect?_” Mercury scoffed. “I mean sure, for Scarlet I get. The dude was murdered. So why are we all so sad about his killer?”

“I don’t understand,” Penny replied, confused. “Yang was our friend, and she also got killed. It is only natural that we are sad about her death as well, right?”

Mercury smirked. “Of course the Atlesian tin can doesn’t get it.”

“_Tin can?_ I must inform you that that is a very offensive remark to-!”

“I didn’t say you could start talking yet, did I?”

Penny pouted, annoyed.

Mercury continued. “Anyway, my point is, Yang was a _murderer_. She killed Scarlet. And before anyone plays the ‘but it was done in the spur of the moment’ card, we found out that she planned the murder since Arc gave her the longsword, remember?” He reclined back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. “She committed a calculated and premeditated murder. Sure, it was a little rough around the edges, but that doesn’t change that. So should we _really_ be showing any respect for her death?”

“Mercury!” Pyrrha snapped. “That’s very insensitive to say! Yang was one of our friends!”

“So what,” He said bluntly. “Just because she was a friend means she’s essentially got a get out of jail free card for murder?”

“That’s...” Pyrrha started. “...Not what I meant, but...But you can’t say something like that! You just can’t!”

“Why not? She killed Scarlet, didn’t she? She was a murderer. And last I checked,” He shrugged. “Murderers don’t exactly deserve respect.”

Ruby was just about to get out of her seat herself when Coco said something instead.

“Save the morality discussion for later, Mercury. We have bigger problems.”

Mercury shrugged. “Just saying.”

“Whether we respect it or not,” Coco continued, now standing up. “Two people still died because of this killing game. We can’t just ignore that.” She grimaced. “I would’ve _thought_ we’d be better than to fall victim to Beochi’s motive...But we can’t change what happened. All we can do now is move forward.”

Ruby also got up from her chair, hoping to help.

“Y-yeah!” She agreed. “And now that we know what the punishment for murder is, hopefully that’ll discourage anyone else from committing murder, right?”

Coco nodded. “I certainly hope so.”

Ruby nodded back and sat back down, happy that the discussion was now on a more positive note.

“And another thing,” Coco continued. “Fox and I found something.”

Ruby stopped. “Huh?”

Fox shrugged. “I mean, I don’t know if we should even bother mentioning it, since Beochi will probably appear to bring it up himself.”

“That means it must be important,” Sage noted. “What did you find?”

Fox raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t listen to the last part, did you?”

“I did. And I don’t care what he thinks. Just tell us.”

Fox sighed. “Alright, fine. You know that boarded-up door?”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah, with the blank nameplate.”

“That one. It’s open.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “What?”

“That door. It’s open.”

“Can confirm.” Coco said, adjusting her glasses with a flick. “We both saw it on the way here.”

“Well technically _you_ saw it and I-”

Coco elbowed him in the side.

“Sorry.”

“Neither of us went inside,” She continued. “But it was definitely open.”

“That’s really weird,” Ruby said. “Why would it be open now?”

“And that’s where **I **come in!” Beochi chimed, appearing in front of them.

“Why you little-!” Nora was already getting into a fighting stance. “What the hell are you doing here!?”

“Nora, please!” Ren put a hand on her shoulder to get her to calm down, before turning to face Beochi himself. “But yes, why _are_ you here? We never asked for you.”

Beochi folded his arms and pouted. “Jeez, did none of you get taught how to respect your elders?”

“Are you _really_ an elder, though?” Blake pointed out bluntly.

“Hey, you’re talking to your headmaster here! Of course I’m an elder!”

“Beochi,” Jaune said calmly. “We’re not gonna fight you if you tell us why you’re here.”

“Good question, Blondie! Great to see that people are being polite. Well,” He started to explain. “I couldn’t help but hear Rich Kid and Toph mentioning that I opened up the Armoury.”

Fox tilted his head a little, confused. “…‘Toph’? Is that meant to mean something?”

Coco narrowed her eyes, annoyed. “Why is _that_ the part you chose to focus on?”

“Wait, Armoury?” Ruby asked.

“Yupyupyup!” Beochi said with a nod. “The new room that has been opened is an Armoury! Filled to the brim with different weapons!...Well, half-filled, there’s not much in there right now, but you get the idea.”

Fox realised something. “Wait a second. I have an idea.”

Beochi brushed him off. “Yeah yeah, we’ll get to your idea in a minute, Toph.”

“...Seriously, what does ‘Toph’ mean!?”

“Anyway,” Beochi continued. “The Armoury has been opened as a result of completing the last trial! Consider it a reward system, if you will.”

“Opening the room was a _reward?_” Weiss questioned.

“Of course! I mean, you all went to so much effort for the trial. Makes sense that I give you an actual reward for your hard work. Even though I still need to get gold stars.”

Mercury sighed. “Pretty fucked-up reward system if you ask me...”

“Wait, so every time we complete a trial,” Emerald asked. “A room or something opens up?”

“Eeeexactly!” Beochi confirmed.

“Yeah, I’m with Mercury here. You’re pretty fucked in the head.”

“Didn’t we confirm that already?” Sage noted.

“Well, I’ve fulfilled my purpose.” Beochi said, bowing. “Until the next motive, that is. Which, I must warn you, may be coming a bit sooner than you think~!”

With that, he vanished again.

“Okay, so that room’s an armoury.” Sun noted. “And it’s now open. What do we do now?”

“Well,” Ruby said. “I’m pretty sure Fox said he had an idea.” She turned to Fox. “What was it?”

Fox nodded. “So the room’s an armoury, right? Beochi said that there are some weapons already there. So I figured that that could be the place where we store all our weapons.”

“You mean from the weapon drops?” Jaune asked.

“Yeah, that’s it. It’ll probably be easier on us if we know where all the weapons are, right? So I say we take all the weapons we have already from Beochi’s weapon drops and move them there.”

“Fox, that’s a great idea!” Ruby agreed.

“Agreed.” Sage seconded. “We could make that work.”

Fox sighed, presumably from relief. “Okay good, thought nobody would agree with me there.”

“Continuing on from that, it might be a good idea for us to split up to find weapons, while the rest of us go to this Armoury to get a general scope of it.”

“Alright,” Ruby said with a nod, before turning to Fox. “Can you take us there?”

Fox raised an eyebrow. “I mean I could certainly try, but Coco would do a better job.”

“Wait, what do you-?” Ruby started before realising. She brought her hand to her head in frustration. “Gah! Why do I keep doing that!?”

Fox laughed to himself. “I’m sorry, but that will never get old.”

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the Armoury. Coco and Fox had lead a small group of them there – Ruby, Jaune, Sage, and Emerald – while everyone else had split off to find the weapon drops to put inside.

The room felt a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. Swords and blades of different types were hanging on a rack screwed into the wall, there was a long black table with smaller weapons such as kunai and thick strands of rope on it, there was a small cabinet filled with bottles of pills in one corner and an empty iron maiden in the other. A small supermarket-style rack shelf also took up one wall, with different boxes displayed on it.

“Whoa!” Ruby said. “This place is huge!”

“Yeah, looks like there’s plenty of space for the other weapons here,” Emerald noted, walking over to the black table. “Seriously, how many weapons is this thing planning on giving us?”

“Beats me,” Fox said with a shrug. “This’ll just be the best place to keep everything for now.”

Ruby took note of the rack shelf and walked over it.

The boxes on it almost looked like toy packaging. She picked one up to inspect it, and gasped a little when she did.

The text printed on the box read “SPECIAL BEOCHI-BRAND DUST BOMBS – complete with trigger! _Super-simple to assemble!_”

Sage also seemed to take note of this. “This must’ve been what Scarlet found yesterday...” He grimaced.

“They’re almost packaged like toys...” Ruby noted, putting the bombs back. “What, is this all some kind of game to him!?”

Jaune shrugged. “He calls this a killing game for a reason, I guess.”

Coco pushed her glasses up. “Yeah, that thing really _is_ fucked up...”

“Good thing is we know where everything is, I guess. Or at least where it’s gonna be, anyway.” Fox said.

It evidently didn’t take long for the plan to take into effect, as a knock on the opened door revealed that Blake had just arrived at the doorway.

“Oh, so _this_ is what an armoury looks like to him.” She noted.

“Did you find anything?” Ruby asked.

Blake’s ears crinkled uneasily a little under her bow, before she showed them what she had found.

Ruby’s breath hitched.

She was holding a longsword and a gun.

“They were both lying on the arena stage.” She explained.

“...Was he still there?” Sage asked, hesitantly.

Blake shook her head. “No. Everything had been cleaned away. His body, the blood, the scraps of clothing and that satchel, everything.” She uneasily looked to the side. “...Almost like nothing even happened there...”

Sage’s eyes turned to the ground.

“But that’s not possible!” Emerald argued. “The stage was caked in blood, there’s no way that it could’ve been cleaned up overnight!”

“I don’t know how, but it was! You can see for yourself if you don’t believe me!”

Sage turned away. “I don’t know if I want to go back in there...”

Ruby nodded solemnly. “I don’t think any of us want to go back in there after what happened...”

Fox sighed. “Well, we’ve showed you what we need to show you. So I guess we can just disperse now.”

“Disperse and do what?” Emerald asked.

Fox shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Okay, then.” Sage nodded. “Ruby, come with me.”

“Wh- now?” Ruby asked.

“Yes, now. We need to talk about something.”

“What do you need to talk about?” Jaune asked skeptically.

“It’s private, Jaune.” He turned to Ruby. “You coming?”

“Wait, what’re you-” Ruby started.

Before she could finish, Sage had already grabbed her by the arm and was dragging her with him.

“Wh- hey!”

“I’ll explain when we get there.” He said casually, a stark contrast to the fact that he was dragging Ruby out of the room. “Just come with me.”

Before Ruby could say anything, he had already dragged her out of the room and closed the door.

Before long they had arrived at the kitchen, where Sage sat her down at the table and got two cups out on the counter.

“What do you take?” He asked.

“...Uh...What?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Coffee. What do you take?”

“Oh, right! Cream and sugar.”

Sage nodded and turned back around, filling a kettle and setting it to boil.

“Um,” Ruby started. “Why are you making coffee, exactly?”

Sage shrugged. “You looked like you needed it.”

She sighed. “Jeez, do I _really_ look that bad?”

“Not that. As in a lot happened yesterday and it seemed like you needed it.”

“Oh. Right, yeah...”

The two of them stayed in awkward silence, before the kettle finished boiling, prompting Sage to finish the two drinks.

“Thanks,” Ruby said as he handed her her cup. “I, uh, didn’t know you liked coffee.”

Sage took a seat opposite her. “Hm?”

“Yeah, I thought you only liked tea.”

“Tea is my preference,” He replied. “But I do have coffee when I feel like I need it. And,” He sighed. “I certainly need it now...”

“...Of...Course...”

Ruby took a quick sip of her coffee (it wasn’t that bad) before Sage spoke again.

“Scarlet evidently already told you, I assume.”

“What,” Ruby asked. “About the fact that you two were-?”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “You did announce it in the middle of the trial.”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that...Yeah, he told me that night. The night before he died, I mean.”

Sage drummed his fingers on the table, looking off to the side. “I see...”

“Was he not meant to?”

“Oh, nothing like that. I just...Didn’t expect him to tell you.”

“How come?”

“If Scar was anything, he was secretive. Always kept his feelings behind 10-foot walls. Hell, he never even told Sun and Neptune anything.”

“Wait, so they didn’t know either?”

“Oh no, they did. They found out by chance. They just walked into the room at the wrong-”

Ruby stopped him. “I don’t need the details!”

“You get the idea. So I didn’t exactly expect him to tell you just like that.”

“Right...Moving on from that,” Ruby decided to change the subject, taking another sip of her drink. “Why did you want to see me? Because you were, uh, pretty adamant about it.”

Sage stopped. “Sorry, was I too aggressive about it?”

“You didn’t have to drag me out of the room.”

“Ah...Sorry about that...”

“It’s fine,” Ruby laughed a bit. “So why did you want to see me?”

“It’s just that,” Sage started. “You seemed very stressed.”

She sighed. “How could I not be? After everything that happened yesterday...”

He nodded. “I understand that. Because I feel the same thing.”

Ruby looked up to him. “You do?”

Sage looked away uncomfortably. “As I said earlier, everything that happened yesterday caused both of us to lose someone important...I lost Scarlet, and you lost Yang. Since we were both directly affected by the past day’s events wouldn’t it only make sense that we work together?”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

Sage smiled a little. “I’m saying I’m on your side.”

Ruby was a little taken aback, but glad at his response.

“O-oh! Right! Yeah, that’s great!”

Ruby quickly finished her drink.

“So...” She said. “Are we friends now?”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “Are you insinuating that we weren’t already?”

“Huh!? No! I-”

“I’m kidding. And yes. I guess we are.”

“...Oh. Right. Yeah.”

The rest of the day seemed to go by at a blur.

Ruby’s brief talk with Sage did make her feel a bit better, but she couldn’t help the feeling of dread hanging over her whenever she tried to talk to her friends. One of them could be capable of committing another murder, right?

No. Now that they know what will happen if you get caught, nobody will kill anyone.

Here’s hoping, at least.

Beochi didn’t have any announcements, thankfully. He did briefly mention that another motive may come quicker than expected, but he was likely just bluffing. Besides, it had only been a day after the last trial, so why would another murder happen now, if at all?

Before she knew it, Ruby was waking up again the next morning.

The odd thing was, it was to the sound of something hitting against the window.

“Huh?” Ruby pulled herself out of bed and pulled open the curtains.

The sky outside was cloudy and grey, with raindrops pounding against the window.

“...Looks like there’s a pretty bad storm outside...” She noted.

Before she could do anything else, her scroll – which was charging on her desk – started buzzing.

“Oh?” Ruby walked over to it, and noticed that the motive tab was flashing.

“...W...What?” She started, confused, before clicking it. “The only reason this would be flashing like that would be if-”

The words printed on the screen made her blood run cold.

“_Your target is Mercury Black. You have 24 hours remaining._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell, I love me some stinger lines
> 
> As you probably noticed, the pacing of chapter 2 will (probably) feel a bit quicker compared to chapter 1, but I'm mostly doing this to avoid unnecessary filler/padding, and it also makes a bit more sense given the way I'm structuring this chapter.  
Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long!
> 
> Thank you for reading until the end!  
Please let me know what you think in the comments!  
(I'm also interested to see who you think is gonna die next)


	12. The Next Motive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby is given a rude awakening by what seems to be another motive.  
But what do these targets even mean? Unfortunately, the killing game might start again a lot sooner than she expected..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long! I had to do a major rewrite to the chapter 2 murder case and it had to be delayed because of that. Hopefully this was worth the wait!

The door to Ruby’s room flew open as she ran out in a panic.

Her scroll was in her hand, with the message from the motive tab still open:

“_Your target is Mercury Black. You have 24 hours remaining.”_

_What the heck is this supposed to mean!? _She thought. _It’s only been two days after the trial, Beochi can’t be giving out a motive now! And besides, what does Mercury being my target even mean!?_

“Ruby? Ruby! Hey!”

Ruby was so caught up in her panic that she hadn’t noticed that she had sprinted past Jaune.

She turned around, noticing that Jaune had his scroll in his hand too.

“Did you get that weird message too?” She asked.

“Yeah, my scroll was buzzing when I woke up.”

“What’d it say? Who did it say your...‘Target’ was?”

Jaune paused for a bit. “...Uh...I don’t think we’re meant to tell each other who our targets are.”

Ruby shivered. “This is really weird...”

Sage, who was nearby, also approached the two.

“I assume you got the message as well?”

“You got it too!?” Ruby asked.

“I think everyone got it. Assuming that this is the next motive, that would make sense.” He put his hand to his chin and frowned. “But it’s so soon after the last trial...Why would he be giving us another motive now?”

“Not to mention it doesn’t say anything about what these targets mean.” Jaune pointed out. “What do you think they mean, Sage?

Sage shook his head. “Not sure. All we know for now is that we’ve each been assigned a target from the group.”

“So what should we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Ruby answered. “But I want an explanation from Beochi about this!”

Sage nodded. “I agree. I don’t exactly wish to talk to him, especially after the events of the trial, but we need to get him to tell us what this new motive entails.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Jaune asked. “I mean, he hasn’t given any announcements yet.”

“I think he will tell us. He distributed the motive like this to gauge a reaction, I assume.”

“...Eh?”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “He probably wants us to demand answers.”

“Oh.”

“So I guess that’s it then!” Ruby said. “We’re going to the amphitheatre!”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah, I guess that settles it.”

Sage agreed. “It looks like we’re all in agreement, so feel free to lead the way.”

“Got it!” Ruby said with a nod, before leading them to the amphitheatre.

The three of them arrived at the amphitheatre to find everyone else there, apparently already having gotten the same message.

“Huh.” Jaune noted. “Looks like everyone else got the same idea as we did.”

Weiss and Blake walked over to the three of them.

“Did you three get that notification too?” Weiss asked.

Ruby nodded. “Yeah. Did everyone?”

“Looks like it.” Blake replied. “Beochi better have some form of explanation for this...”

“Yeah, I mean, he can’t be giving out the new motive this early, right?”

“You’d be surprised, Little Red!” Beochi’s voice sounded. Everyone turned around to see that he had appeared at his podium on the stage.

He smirked as he addressed the crowd. “I’m sure you all came here to ask me something, right?”

“Of course we have!” Penny announced. “Where did the storm come from?”

The room went silent.

Beochi raised an eyebrow. “...Uh?”

“The storm! There’s a storm outside!”

“Focusing on the wrong thing…!” Nora said through her teeth.

Penny stopped. “Am I? Oh. I apologise.”

Beochi brought his hand to his head, annoyed. “Jeez...”

“Okay...Now that that’s been cleared up...” Ruby turned over to Beochi. “What the heck is this ‘target’ thing!?”

“Oh, that?” Beochi replied. “That’s the new motive, of course!”

Ruby froze. “_What!?_”

“It’s not even been two days since the last trial!” Pyrrha objected. “Why are you giving us another motive now!?”

Beochi shrugged. “Well, the killing took too long to happen at first, in my humble opinion. Hopefully since I’ve given you a motive now, you idiots will learn to act fast!”

“Well, what IS this motive, anyway?” Jaune asked. “You’ve given us targets. What does that mean?”

“Allow me to enlighten you, Blondie! If you manage to kill your target within 24 hours, _you get to escape without a trial!”_

Ruby stopped. “Wait, huh!?”

“If one of us kills our targets within a day, that person leaves without a trial?” Sage echoed. “But a trial is the whole point of this game you’ve been setting up, is it not?”

“Well, you all saw what happened to Barbie Doll, didn’t you?” Beochi explained. “A murderous fiend may not want to face the same fate, y’know. So I’ve been kind enough to give them a chance to skip that fate! If someone kills the right person, they skip the trial altogether and escape!”

“You said previously that if a killer gets away with their crime, everyone else would be punished. So would that still be the case in the event of someone killing their target?” Ren asked.

Beochi shook his head. “Nope! If you kill your target, you escape! Case closed.”

Ruby looked down at her scroll.

_So does that mean that if I kill Mercury, I can get out of here?_

_As IF! I’m not gonna kill anyone! Nobody will after seeing what that leads to!_

“If you think this is gonna make us kill someone after what happened in the trial,” She said confidently. “You’re wrong.”

Beochi laughed. “Good to see you have your fire back, Little Red! But remember what happened when you said that about the last motive? And besides,” He smirked. “The whole point of this motive is avoiding the trial altogether, remember?”

Ruby froze. “W-what!?”

“Hm...” Sage mused, tilting his head. “I mean, we all thought a murder was never going to happen after seeing Yang’s execution...But now that this motive skips the trial altogether and lets the killer escape, that renders that argument null and void...”

“You mean Beochi came up with this motive just to work around that!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“Exactly.” Sage narrowed his eyes on Beochi. “Good move, Beochi.”

Beochi put on a fake ‘blushing anime love interest’ expression. “D’aaaw! Thank you, Timelord!”

“That wasn’t a compliment and you know it.”

Beochi shrugged. “Aw, whatever. As your headmaster, it only makes sense that I stay one step ahead in order to keep the killing game rolling!”

Ruby looked down to the floor and clenched her fists, in half nervousness and half frustration.

“Well, looks like this announcement is done.” Beochi gave everyone a cheerful wave. “See you when hopefully someone gets murdered! Bye-bye!”

With that he vanished, leaving everyone nervous and uncertain.

“What are we meant to do now!?” Neptune asked. “That little monster specifically crafted this new motive to exploit a loophole!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Penny replied. “We each share our targets.”

“What? Why?” Weiss asked.

“Beochi never said that there was a rule against it. I suggest we all tell each other our targets now.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll begin. My target is-”

Emerald raised her hand in a ‘stop’ position to stop her. “Yeah, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Revealing our targets will only get us to trust each other less, won’t it?” Emerald continued. “Like, if I said that my target was someone, then that someone would think that I’d want to kill them, wouldn’t they?”

“But we’re not going to!” Ruby objected.

“Yeah, but that won’t stop people from thinking that’s gonna happen.” Jaune explained. “Emerald kinda has a point there.”

“I mean, we all trusted that we wouldn’t kill each other a few days ago, remember?” Mercury agreed. “Look where that got us.”

Emerald nodded. “You see? Revealing all our targets isn’t a good idea right now.”

Penny pouted and folded her arms. “Okay then...So what are we meant to do now?”

“Hm...” Ruby thought. “The only thing we can do is wait the motive out.”

“That’s _it!?_” Mercury argued.

“It’s the only thing we CAN do!” Ruby argued back. “I know this is bad now, but we should just wait the motive out and hopefully nobody will die.”

“Ruby has a point.” Coco agreed. “Beochi isn’t exactly threatening us. Waiting out the next 24 hours is the only thing we can do right now.”

Mercury folded his arms. “We can’t exactly hope nobody will die. Remember what happened last time?”

“Of _course_ I remember what happened last time! Nobody wants that to happen again! But there’s nothing else we can do here!”

Merucry groaned, annoyed. “Alright, fine. But if somebody dies, don’t come crying back.” He turned around and walked out.

Nobody said anything for a bit.

“...I still think sharing our targets might be a good idea-” Penny piped up.

“No it’s not, Penny.” Jaune answered. “No it’s not.”

“So is that all we’re gonna do then?” Nora asked. “We’re just gonna wait until the time limit runs out?”

“Not much else we can do.” Sage replied. “If another murder happens, it happens. We know we can investigate it now and find the killer.”

“A murder’s not gonna happen though, right?” Ruby asked.

“...I unfortunately don’t know for sure...Either way, waiting out the motive is the only thing we can do for now.”

Nora sighed. “That’s kinda a downer...”

“We’re in a death game. We can’t exactly not have a downer.” Fox replied.

“Well, it’s only a day, isn’t it?” Ruby said. “It’s not really that long.”

Emerald shrugged. “I guess.” She turned and headed for the door. “I’m gonna see if that thing dropped any more weapons.” She gave them a finger-gun sign as she left. “Later, guys.”

“Oh! Can I accompany you?” Penny asked.

“Yeah, do what you want.”

Penny clapped and cheered happily before leaving after her.

This left teams CFVY, JNPR and the remainders of teams SSSN and RWBY alone.

“Okay, so what now?” Velvet asked. “I know we’re going to wait out the time limit, but what are we going to do now?”

“Might be a good idea to meet later tonight so we can talk about whatever our next move will be.” Ruby suggested. “Optionally, I mean. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Yatsuhashi shrugged. “That sounds like a plan.”

“Wait, next move for what?” Sun asked.

Ruby stopped. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll fill you two in when the time comes.” Sage explained.

_Oh right, _Ruby realised. _They don’t know about the forcefield, do they?_

“Okay then, so we’re meeting later tonight, right?” Ruby asked. “Uh, in the dining hall! There’s plenty of space there!”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Weiss agreed.

“Great!” Ruby replied. “I have no idea what I’m gonna do until then, so I’m just gonna awkwardly walk around until I figure something out!”

“You do that!” Jaune replied.

Ruby gave him a double thumbs-up before leaving.

It didn’t take much longer until she found something to do, as she nearly tripped over something lying on the ground.

She turned around and picked up a medium-sized dagger. Parts of the blade were serrated, it being not too different to the type of dagger a soldier would use.

_Bingo._

_...Wait, why am I saying “bingo”? I found a weapon. That’s bad._

Ruby turned the dagger over in her hand, the blade catching the light as she did.

Emerald said that she would be looking for weapons too, didn’t she? Maybe she’d be able to talk to her. She didn’t really know much about her or Mercury, so this could be a chance for a conversation!

...If a dagger really counted as a conversation starter.

_Oh well, at least I have something to do._ Ruby thought, as she turned and started walking in the direction of the armoury.

It didn’t take long for Ruby to find the armoury, nervously turning the dagger over in her hand as she did so. She was used to carrying heavy weapons – her beloved Crescent Rose was a massive steel scythe with a built-in sniper rifle, after all – but the weight of this dagger felt entirely foreign.

Was it due to the fact that they were in a killing game?

Possibly. She only really became used to carrying Crescent Rose as she used it to slice and dice Grimm. As for this dagger, Beochi expected her to use it to slice and dice her friends.

Yeah. That had to be it.

Ruby pushed open the door. As she predicted, Emerald was already there, with her hand on a thick strand of rope on the display table.

“Oh, hey!” She greeted, signalling with her eyes to the rope. “I had just found this on the way here.”

Ruby lifted up the dagger. “Same with this. How many weapons do you think Beochi even has?”

Emerald shrugged. “Beats me. He’s probably been hooked up to a military grade supply, judging by how many we already have now.”

Ruby laid the dagger down. “How would someone like Beochi even get a military grade supply of weapons, though?”

“Again, beats me. That thing’s evidently full of surprises.”

“Yeah, he’s a lot smarter than we thought...But we’ll get through this, right?”

Emerald nodded. “Hope so. Don’t wanna stay cooped up in here much longer.”

“Want to get back to Mistral soon or something?”

She laughed. “Nah! Merc and I are gonna bounce as soon as this whole thing boils over.”

“What?” Ruby asked incredulously. “But aren’t both of you studying at Haven Academy?”

“Tch. Don’t get me wrong, Mistral’s a beautiful country, but studying’s boring. We just wanna get our huntsman licenses for unrestricted travel.”

“Unrestricted travel? What do you mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like, Ruby. Don’t you think there’s more to life than mowing down Grimm and helping little old ladies cross the road?”

Ruby thought for a bit and shrugged. “...Not really? I mean I’ve always wanted to be a hero, and that’s kinda what heroes do?”

“Well Merc and I want a different path in life.” Emerald explained. “Sure, killing Grimm and getting paid is fun, but we don’t wanna be restricted by saving the same city from the same Grimm attack over and over. Travelling and seeing the world is more our style!”

“Heh...That does sound pretty fun, actually.”

“Exactly! We don’t wanna get tied down by someone at the top. We wanna be free to do what we want!” Emerald laughed to herself. “But you wanna be a hero like the fairytale books, right? That’s cool if that’s what you want.”

“Of course!” Ruby said confidently. “I wanna be just like my mom and uncle Qrow! It’s always been my dream!”

Emerald flashed her a smile. “Adorable.”

Before either of them said anything else, Jaune walked in holding something in his hand.

“Hey guys I-” He stopped when he realised they were in the middle of talking. “...Sorry, was I interrupting something?”

“It’s chill.” Emerald waved her hand dismissively, as if to reassure him. “What’d you pick up?”

Jaune held up what he was holding.

It looked like a plastic ziplock bag – the kind you can buy in bulk at supermarkets – but with a number of small steel spikes inside.

“What IS that?” Ruby asked.

“Wasn’t sure when I found them,” Jaune explained. “I ran into Blake on the way here, and she said that they were probably for...”

He pointed to the iron maiden in the corner of the room.

“...That.”

Ruby stiffened, taking a nervous step back.

“Oh yeah,” Emerald recalled. “Those things are usually filled with spikes and stuff in movies, right? Blake’s probably on the right track.”

“Looks like it.” Jaune noted, putting the ziplock bag of spikes on top of the still closed iron maiden.

“Beochi actually expects us to USE that thing!?” Ruby asked nervously.

“Wouldn’t be surprised...” Emerald mused, folding her arms.

“I’m just not sure why he didn’t give us the spikes until now.” Jaune thought. “I mean, if he really wants us to kill each other, why didn’t he just have the spikes built in?”

“Beats me. That thing’s way of thinking baffles me, honestly. Hey, maybe he was like,” She continued in a mocking impersonation of the robotic Beowolf. “‘If you wanna be able to commit a good murder, you gotta have to work for it!’”

Ruby and Jaune laughed.

“Wouldn’t put that past him, honestly!” Ruby said.

“Alright,” Jaune said, turning in the direction of the door. “I’ve gotta go. Pyrrha said she wanted to talk about something.”

“That’s fair.” Ruby replied, waving him off as he left. “See you later tonight!”

“Later tonight?” Emerald asked as the door closed behind him. She smirked. “You two secretly dating or something?”

“What? Ah, nononononono!” Ruby blushed. “He’s like a brother to me, I can’t date him!”

“If you say so~”

“Stop it! We’re not dating! He’s not really my type, anyway...”

“Okay, okay!” Emerald laughed. “So what’s happening tonight?”

“Oh, it’s just that a couple of us are gonna talk about what we think we’re gonna do next. You wanna come or-?”

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Emerald said swiftly. “I’ve got other things I want to do.”

Ruby shrugged. “That’s fair.”

“So you planning on doing anything until then? Or are you just gonna stay in here for the next few hours?”

“Uh...” Ruby started. “...I don’t actually know...”

Emerald laughed. “That’s fair, being trapped in here gets pretty boring pretty easily. See what I mean about not wanting to stay in one place?”

Ruby also laughed. “Yeah. I think I might want to travel the world with you and Mercury now!”

Emerald smirked. “Maybe. We’ll see about that.”

The two eventually said their goodbyes and left the armoury.

The time for the meeting eventually came, so Ruby headed to the dining hall.

She was evidently early, as the only other person there was Pyrrha.

Pyrrha nodded as a greeting. “Good evening, Ruby.”

Ruby gave her a wave. “Hey, Pyrrha!” She ran over to her. “How’d your talk with Jaune go?”

Pyrrha gave her a perplexed look. “...Pardon?”

“Oh right, it’s private. I get it. Sorry for asking.”

Before Pyrrha could say anything, Jaune also arrived with Sage close behind.

“Hey there.” Jaune greeted.

“Any idea who else is coming?” Ruby asked.

“Nora’s too tired and I don’t know if Ren feels up to it.” Jaune explained.

“I’m not sure about Neptune, but I’m sure that Sun’s coming.” Sage added.

“That’s fine! This is optional, I guess.” Ruby said. “It’s starting to get late. Maybe people want to go to bed early now?”

Sage smirked. “What, because the earlier you choose to go to sleep the sooner another day here will be over?”

“Probably!”

He shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.”

Blake and Weiss walked in soon after, with Blake carrying a book in her hand. (Ruby could tell it was one of her favourite romance novels.)

Blake nodded to them. “Evening.”

“How’s everybody holding up?” Weiss asked.

“Surviving.” Jaune replied.

“I feel like we’re lucky to be...” Pyrrha added.

“Morbid.”

“It’s true.”

Sun, Coco and Fox also joined them, evidently being the last people to arrive.

Sun greeted the group with a salute. “Yo! How’re we all doing?”

“The motive put us all on edge, but we’re hopefully starting to get over it now.” Weiss replied.

“That’s good.” Coco said. “Now we’re starting to get back on our feet, we can discuss our next move.”

“Speaking of,” Fox turned to Sage. “Did you fill him and Neptune in on the details?”

Sage nodded. “I did.”

Sun shrugged. “I always figured Professor Ozpin would set up a forcefield or something to protect the building from Grimm.”

“Yeah, but instead of keeping Grimm out,” Blake added. “Beochi’s using it to keep us in.”

“He could also be using it against Grimm. Could be a two-way system.”

“Riiight.” Blake noted, taking a seat at a table and flicking her book open.

Nobody said anything.

“Don’t worry,” Blake replied, not taking her eyes off her book. “I’m still listening.”

“Okay good,” Ruby said, slightly relieved. “Should we all sit down?”

Everyone seemed to agree, taking a seat at the table Blake had sat down at.

“You saying that actually just made me realise something, Sun.” Ruby realised. “About the Grimm.”

“Huh? What?” Sun asked.

“Well, Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, right?” Ruby explained. “Two people just died two days ago! Shouldn’t that be causing enough negative energy for us to see at least ONE Beowolf clawing at the edge of that forcefield?”

Sage put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “That’s...Actually a good point.”

“Yes, Grimm should have started showing up after that trial, if not before then.” Weiss agreed.

“It’s possible Beochi installed more defensive measures to keep Grimm away.” Fox suggested. “Like a moat or something.”

“Vale is a very crowded city. I don’t think he would have been able to dig a moat around the academy building without at least one of us noticing.” Coco pointed out.

“Speaking of people noticing,” Pyrrha asked. “Shouldn’t the Atlesian Military have gotten wind of what was going on by now? If they don’t know what Beochi’s doing, they would at least notice that Beacon Academy is under lockdown.”

Weiss nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s another thing.”

“What if someone’s paying them to keep quiet?” Jaune suggested.

“What!?” Pyrrha exclaimed.

“Think about it.” He continued. “We’ve already figured out that Beochi has some kind of back door into Atlesian supplies, right? That’s how he was able to get the dust and parts necessary to keep this forcefield active.”

Ruby nodded in agreement. “Yeah, and all the weapons he keeps getting. I was talking about that with Emerald earlier.”

“Yeah, that too. If he or whoever’s controlling him has a back door to get all this stuff, it would only make sense if they were also paying Ironwood off to keep him off the scent.”

“General Ironwood isn’t stupid, Jaune!” Weiss argued. “He wouldn’t be swayed by money! He’d be tried to get to the bottom of this!”

“It’s the only lead we have here! It makes the most sense! It explains why the Atlas Military haven’t showed up yet!”

“But the idea of someone bribing the general just to keep us here...” Pyrrha shuddered.

“Preaching with the choir on that one.” Sage agreed with a grimace.

“This is too confusing to figure out, anyway! Can we please change the subject!?” Sun asked. “To, uh...The motive! Yeah, the motive! There’s only-” He stopped. “...Wait a second.”

Sun quickly searched his pockets for his scroll, as the others waited in anticipation.

He came up empty and groaned in annoyance.

“Dammit! I KNEW I forgot something!” He got up from his chair. “I’ll be right back!”

Sun darted out of the room, leaving the others in an awkward silence.

“...Right...So, while he’s dealing with that,” Fox started, picking up the conversation again. “He has a point. We should talk about the motive.”

“Should we tell each other who our targets are now?” Pyrrha asked.

Ruby shook her head. “Not much point. Beochi said the time limit was only a day, right? So we don’t have much time left until the motive expires anyway.”

Weiss shrugged. “That seems fair.”

“Even still, this did establish that Beochi is a lot smarter than we first thought.” Sage explained. “We assumed another murder wouldn’t happen now that we know what the consequences are, so Beochi decided to temporarily nullify that consequence entirely.”

“He really does want this game to keep on going, huh?” Ruby asked.

“Looks like it, unfortunately.”

“Well the only thing we can do is wait for the time limit to end.”

“Yeah, but won’t he give us another motive as soon as that happens?” Fox pointed out.

Ruby stopped. “...He might...But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Yeah, but what about the machine keeping the forcefield up?” Weiss asked. “I think I need to remind you all that we still have no idea where it is.”

“Yeah, that is a bit of a problem...I was thinking maybe-”

She was stopped by Sun coming back in, scroll in hand.

“I’m back!” He announced, sitting back down. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing much.” Sage replied.

“Okay good.”

“Anyway,” Weiss turned back to Ruby. “We still have no idea where this device is.”

“I initially thought the top of the tower, where the CCT beacon is.” Ruby continued. “But we can’t even get up there.”

“I also thought the basement,” Coco added. “But you need an ID card to get down to that floor. So even if the elevator was accessible, we wouldn’t be able to go down there.”

“So how are we meant to take down this thing?” Jaune asked.

“Well, there are a bunch of those dust bombs in the armoury, aren’t there?” Fox suggested. “We could set up a bunch and set them all off.”

“I doubt they’d do much against the forcefield.” Weiss dismissed. “The only thing that would achieve is turning the academy’s perfectly cut lawns into craters of clay.”

Fox shrugged. “Just a suggestion, Ice Queen.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “Are we seriously doing this again?”

“Okay okay,” Ruby interjected, trying to act as a peacemaker between the two. “So blowing up the forcefield isn’t gonna work. What else?”

“Not sure.” Blake’s voice said from the doorway.

Ruby turned, only just noticing that her chair had been empty.

Blake walked back over to her place. “I doubt we’ll be able to get anything from the man himself.”

“Huh.” Ruby noted. “I didn’t actually notice you left, Blake. Did you need to do something?”

“I went to go put my book back.” Blake replied, pointing to the door. “I was reaching a particularly heavy story beat, and wanted to focus on it later.”

“That’s fair.”

“Either way,” Jaune said. “We can’t exactly rule out the tower and the basement as locations yet. Maybe he’s keeping them closed off because the machine is in there.”

Fox shrugged. “It’s possible. But if that’s the case, we still can’t get to it.”

“Yeah, Yatsu couldn’t take the barricade in front of the elevator down.” Coco agreed.

“Maybe we could try blowing the barricade up?”

“What, and blow the academy hallway up?”

“Jeez, only trying to be helpful here!”

“Maybe,” Pyrrha suggested. “The elevator will open up at a later point. Like the armoury did.”

“Yeah, but the armoury only opened up after the last trial.” Coco pulled her shades down and narrowed her eyes on the redhead. “Are you suggesting we go through a trial again?”

“What!? No! Of course not!”

“Guys, please!” Ruby interjected again. “We can’t have people arguing now, things are already tense enough as it is!”

“Yeah, I’m with Ruby here!” Sun agreed. “We can’t be turning our backs on each other right now!”

Fox brought his hand to his head. “This is going nowhere...”

“Not exactly,” Sage said. “We did point out some inaccuracies regarding our current position at the academy, specifically regarding the Grimm and the military’s lack of involvement.”

“Yeah, that is still pretty weird.” Jaune agreed.

“Either way,” Ruby said. “We don’t have much longer until the time limit for the motive runs out. So the best thing we can do is wait for this motive to expire and take whatever happens next as it comes. Everyone with me?”

Everyone seemed to agree.

“Okay,” Ruby continued. “I dunno about the rest of you guys, but it’s pretty late and I just want this motive to be out of the way.”

Jaune nodded in agreement. “So to the dorms?”

“To the dorms.” Everyone said in unison, before heading off to the dorms.

Ruby woke up the next morning, thankfully feeling a bit more well rested.

She yawned and pulled out her scroll, clicking the motive tab.

“_Your target is Mercury Black. You have 1 hour and 30 minutes remaining.”_

_Only an hour and a half ‘til the motive runs out,_ Ruby thought. _That’s good._

She leapt out of bed and fixed her hair, mentally deciding to head down to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. Maybe she’ll talk with Sage or Jaune later. But coffee first.

She left her dorm room and started to head in the direction of the kitchen.

On the way there, she noticed something in the corner of her eye, and stopped to get a better look.

A metal bat was leaning against the wall.

She groaned.

_There goes that cup of coffee…_

Ruby lifted up the bat, and slung it against her shoulder before turning in the direction of the armoury.

“What, you planning on smashing someone’s head in with that thing?”

She stopped and turned around to address the person she just walked past.

She deadpanned him, annoyed. “Not funny, Mercury.”

He smirked. “Opportunity was there.”

Ruby sighed and continued walking, the sound of heavy footsteps – likely from his weaponised boots – behind her alerting her that Mercury was following her.

“Do you have anything better to do than tailing me?” Ruby asked, not turning around.

Mercury shrugged. “Not really. Emerald didn’t answer the door, so I need something to do until she decides to come find me.”

_Oh yeah,_ Ruby remembered. _They seemed pretty close._

“...Right. Well I’m just gonna put this in the armoury, so there’s not much entertainment for you there.”

Mercury raised an eyebrow. “You never know. Something might happen.”

The two of them eventually reached the armoury.

Ruby was just expecting to walk in, put the bat down, hopefully shake Mercury off her tail and go and get that cup of coffee.

However, when she walked in, she dropped the bat in horror when she saw what was inside.

“...Okay,” Mercury started. “This...Isn’t what I meant.”

There was a pool of blood in the corner of the room.

A pool of blood streaming from the now closed iron maiden.

Ruby took a step back. “W-what…!?”

“Okay, okay, calm down-!”

“How can I calm down!? _Look!_”

“Yeah, I see that! I’m not blind!”

Despite denying it with everything she had, the blood dripping out of the iron maiden could only mean one thing.

Someone else had given into the motive.

“Someone else is...” She started, her face paling as she looked down.

Mercury grimaced. “Only one way to find out for sure...” He nodded to her. “You need to open it.”

“Wh- no way! I’m not opening that!”

“Ruby, we can’t just leave this! You kinda need to open it!”

“No, I don’t want to see it!” She raised her arms defensively.

“Alright, alright! I’ll open it!” He pointed to the door. “Go and get someone, now!”

Ruby nodded. “Got it!”

She used her semblance to speed out of the room and back to the dorms.

She nearly ran over Jaune as him and Sage were walking down the hall.

“Gah-!” Jaune stumbled back. “Oh good, there you are. We’ve been looking for-”

Sage stopped him, noticing Ruby’s expression. “Jaune, hold on. Something’s wrong.”

Ruby shakily nodded. “Something’s very wrong! We need to go to the armoury! NOW!”

“Whoa, hey!” Jaune said. “What’s with all the panic? What’s going on?”

“I can’t explain right now! You just need to come with me! _NOW!!!_”

“Ruby,” Sage started. “Just tell us what’s-”

“A-AAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Ruby froze.

_Mercury!?_

“...Did anyone else just hear Mercury screaming in the distance or was that just me?” Jaune asked.

“No, that...Wasn’t just you.” Sage answered.

“We need to go to the armoury! NOW!” Ruby said desperately.

Finally Jaune and Sage seemed to agree without any protest, and the three of them darted towards the armoury.

_Mercury must have opened the door,_ Ruby thought as she ran. _But the only reason he’d be losing his cool like that is if…_

The three of them arrived at the armoury. The door was wide open, and Mercury was backing away from something inside, in a complete contrast to his usual cool and sarcastic persona.

“Mercury, what’s going on!?” Sage asked.

He didn’t reply.

Ruby walked in and looked down at what Mercury was looking at, soon wishing she hadn’t.

Her suspicions were confirmed.

The door to the iron maiden was wide open, blood coating the now spike-stocked walls, and the stab-riddled body of Emerald Sustrai was lying in front of it in a now larger pool of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *DBZA Chiaotzu voice* "OHOHOHO, BRUTAL!"  
Yeah I know this is a bit quick, but the pacing made sense to me and I didn't want this to feel too padded out.  
But now, we're at death number three! Dun dun duuuuun  
So who is Emerald's killer?  
That's for me to know and you to find out~!  
Anyway, thank you for reading until the end and sorry again for the longer wait! I hope you enjoyed!


	13. Another Day, Another Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As another body is found in bad condition, the group is forced to investigate another murder.  
However, with a number of strange finds and a piece of important information withheld by Beochi, it seems that this case isn't as clear cut as it first looked...

DING-DONG-DONG-DING!

“A body has been discovered!” Beochi’s voice chimed out of a nearby speaker. “Everyone, head to the armoury and begin your investigation!”

The four of them were staring in stunned silence at Emerald’s bloodied corpse.

“H-holy...” Jaune started, putting his hand to his mouth.

“W...What the hell IS this!?” Sage exclaimed angrily.

“...Emerald...” Ruby started. “O-oh no...”

Mercury still didn’t say anything.

Of course he didn’t. As Ruby had learned yesterday, the two of them were very close. Sure, Emerald didn’t go into details, but she was able to fill in some of the blanks.

Either way, she was dead.

The killing game had started again.

The sound of rapid footsteps and someone (who was probably Nora) yelling “ARE WE SERIOUSLY DOING THIS AGAIN” in the distance brought her back to reality.

Coco was the first one in this time.

“Let me in! Get out of my way!” She announced, shoving Jaune and Sage to the side as she ran through the door.

“Wh- HEY!” Jaune exclaimed as he collided with the wall.

Sage managed to regain his footing before he hit anything. “You could’ve been LESS forceful!”

Coco ignored the two of them completely.

“What the hell’s going on!? Let me see the-!” She froze as soon as she saw Emerald’s body.

She gasped and took a step back, putting her hand over her mouth.

“...H-holy shit…!” She spun around to face the others. “What the hell happened here!?”

“I-I don’t know!” Ruby sputtered. “I came to put this bat here and Mercury came with me and we saw blood coming out of the iron maiden and I went to go get Sage and Jaune while Mercury opened the door and and and-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold it! Mercury, was the body definitely in there?”

Mercury, still not saying anything, nodded slowly.

Coco’s eyes widened. “...F-fuck...”

The others arrived in the armoury not too long after.

“Oh god, we ARE doing this again…!” Nora said nervously.

“Emerald...” Yatsuhashi lowered his head in respect. “...Such a truly horrible fate...You poor soul...”

Everyone else seemed to have the same reaction. Someone had died again, evidently by being forced into an iron maiden no less.

Ruby gulped nervously. “...I guess we know what to do now...”

“Yeah, but shouldn’t we wait until Beochi gets here?” Jaune asked. “I mean, he should be showing up any minute now to give us the-”

As if on cue, everyone’s scroll vibrated.

“...Beochi File.” Jaune finished, surprised. “Huh. Guess not.”

Ruby took out her scroll. The Beochi File tab was flashing, so she opened it.

The first screen was almost identical to Scarlet’s file; it listed Emerald’s full name, her academy, a portrait of her with a pink “DEAD” stamped over it – other than it saying “null” where it would have stated her team, everything was the same.

She swiped the screen.

The silhouette showed the areas where the spikes of the iron maiden had stabbed her in pink. It also showed a large pink mark where her head was.

Ruby frowned. _I’ll have to check that out later._

She turned her attention to the text.

“The victim is Emerald Sustrai.

Her body was discovered inside the iron maiden in the armoury.

She had sustained a number of stab wounds as a result of the iron maiden’s spikes, as well as an injury caused by blunt force trauma to the back of the head.”

“Well we have the file now,” Neptune said. “Shouldn’t we start investigating?”

“Not quite.” Sage replied. “The file is missing something important.”

“Is it?” Neptune quickly looked back to his scroll.

Ruby did the same, and realised what Sage was getting at.

“It doesn’t say what the cause of death is!” She exclaimed.

“HUH!?” Nora exclaimed. “WHAT THE HELL, BEOCHI!?”

No response.

Nora cleared her throat. “Okay lemme try again. WHAT THE HELL, BEOCHI!?”

Ren shook his head. “I don’t think he’s gonna show up, Nora.”

“Darn. Welp, it was worth a try.”

“She has a point, though!” Fox said. “Why would Beochi not say the cause of death!? I don’t know about you, but that’s kinda important!”

“What if it was accidental?” Weiss suggested. “Maybe he wrote the file in a rush and left it out by mistake.”

“I don’t think so.” Jaune replied. “Beochi’s not dumb. He wouldn’t have left out something that important by accident.”

Sage hummed thoughtfully. “We’re going to have to investigate as is...”

“How are we supposed to investigate a murder without a cause of death!?” Sun argued.

“We have to just try. We can’t give up here.”

Ruby nodded. “Right. Should we split up again?”

Coco agreed. “Good call, Ruby.”

“Okay. Me, Sage and Jaune will take in here. You wanna help us, Coco?”

“Sure thing.”

“It might also be a good idea to investigate her room.” Jaune suggested.

“How are we meant to do that?” Velvet asked. “The dorms are locked via scroll scanner, aren’t they?”

Jaune shrugged. “I dunno, Beochi might open the door if you ask nicely. Could be something important there, anyway.”

Velvet nodded. “Right. I’ll go there. Who wants to come with me?”

“I’ll go.” Fox replied.

Velvet raised an eyebrow. “Wait, how are you going to help with investigating Emerald’s room?”

Fox shrugged. “Moral support?”

“...That’s fair. Anyone else?”

“I will!” Penny raised a hand.

Ren nodded. “Same here.”

“Okay, that should be enough.” Velvet said with a nod.

“What about the rest of us?” Nora asked.

“Hmm...Maybe you guys could look around, let us know if you find something important.” Ruby suggested. “Mercury could help! Right, Me-”

She turned around, only to realise he wasn’t there.

“...Huh? Where’d he go?”

“He left while we were reading the file.” Weiss replied.

Ruby sighed. “Makes sense...He seemed pretty upset about Emerald’s death...”

“Oh yeah,” Jaune recalled. “The two of them were pretty close, weren’t they?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’ll see if I can find him.” Pyrrha suggested. “I could try to talk to him, if you want.”

“Yeah, that seems like a good idea.”

Pyrrha nodded.

“See you at the trial.” She said, before leaving to find Mercury.

Ruby’s heart sank.

“Oh yeah...The trial...”

_We’ll have to send someone to their death again…_

“Try not to think about that right now.” Sage reassured. “We have a murder to investigate.”

Ruby nodded nervously. “R-right. Velvet, let me know if you guys find anything important in her room, okay?”

Velvet nodded. “Got it.”

“Okay. Let’s split.”

Everyone headed in their own directions, leaving Ruby, Jaune, Sage and Coco in the armoury with Emerald’s body.

Ruby grimaced. “...I guess we’ll have to start with the body...”

Coco nodded. “Right.”

The four of them walked over to the body.

True to the Beochi file’s word, Emerald was covered in blood and stab wounds.

Ruby already felt sick from looking at it.

Jaune seemed to feel the same way.

“I’ve always seen those things in movies, but I never wanted to see what it looked like when someone came out...” He said.

Coco agreed. “Preaching with the choir there.”

Sage’s attention was on the back of her head. As Emerald’s body was on it’s front, the back of her head was clearly visible. As was the deep wound on it.

Ruby also took notice.

She gagged. “Oh god…!”

“Seems the Beochi File was right...” Sage mused, before taking notice of something. “...Huh. That’s odd.”

“What is it?” Coco asked.

“This wound isn’t fresh.”

“What?” Jaune asked.

“It seems a lot less fresh than the stab wounds. See? It’s already started to dry and there’s a lot less blood originating from-”

“Nonono, PLEASE spare the gross details!” Jaune exclaimed, waving his hands to get him to stop.

Coco raised an eyebrow. “You certainly know your stuff.”

Sage sighed, his eyes turning to the ground. “I like murder mystery shows...” He muttered.

“Huh. Seems legit. Either way, the wound from the supposed blunt force trauma isn’t fresh.” She hummed thoughtfully. “That could be important.”

Ruby also seemed to notice something.

“...That’s...Weird.” She noted. “She doesn’t have her scroll.”

“She doesn’t?” Jaune asked.

“Yeah, look.” Ruby pointed at the pockets on Emerald’s outfit. “I reckon she’d usually keep it in there. But there’s nothing there. See?”

“Hm. That could also be important.” Sage noted. “Good find, Ruby.”

“Uh...Thanks I guess.”

Coco nodded in the direction of the bloodied iron maiden. “Might be a good idea to check that out too.”

Ruby grimaced. “That’s way too much blood for me...Mind if I step back?”

“That’s fine. The three of us will get a closer look.”

Ruby nodded and took a step back, as Coco, Sage and Jaune walked over to the iron maiden.

“There’s quite a lot of blood here...” Jaune said with a grimace, eyeing the blood coating the spikes. “Makes sense that this would be where she died.”

“How would they have gotten her inside?” Ruby asked. “Emerald doesn’t really go down easy. She would’ve put up a fight if they tried to lock her in there.”

“Maybe that’s what the head wound is? They knocked her out with something heavy and dragged her here while she was unconscious.”

Ruby shivered. “E-eugh...”

Coco noticed something else.

“...That’s weird.”

“What is it?” Sage asked.

Coco took a closer look at one of the spikes, before carefully picking something else off of it. She held the bloodied object at a distance, not wanting to get the blood dripping off of it on her.

“Looks like...Some kinda plastic.” She noted.

“Plastic?” Jaune asked. “What would a scrap of plastic be doing in there?”

“Scraps.” Sage corrected, taking a closer look at the spikes. “There’s more in here.”

“Okay, I’ll try that again. What would scraps of plastic be doing in there?”

Coco tilted her head confused. “I dunno...Maybe this case isn’t as cut and dried as we first thought.”

Ruby was about to ask something else, when she noticed one of the drawers of the display case was slightly open.

“Huh?” She walked over to it.

Coco noticed her walking in the other direction. “Where are you going?”

“Someone’s been into this drawer!” Ruby replied. “It’s slightly open. I’m gonna see what’s inside!”

She pulled the drawer open as the three others walked over.

The drawer was half-full of small neat plastic bags, filled with a liquid that had the colour and uncanny resemblance to blood.

Ruby took a step back. “T-this is…!”

“Blood bags?” Coco asked. “Why are there blood bags in here?”

“Maybe they were already in there?” Jaune suggested. “We never did look inside the drawers.”

“Why _not!?_”

“I don’t know! All the weapons were outside of them!”

“Someone evidently used some of them.” Sage noted. “This drawer only feels partly full, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Ruby agreed. “Someone had to have known they were in there. Someone found them without telling us, maybe?”

Sage shrugged. “It’s possible.”

Coco pushed her glasses up her nose. “This investigation is just leaving us with more questions than answers...”

Ruby shrugged. “I felt the same way last time. Everything will come together soon, hopefully.”

Coco nodded. “Yeah, hopefully.”

The four of them were interrupted by a knock at the door. They turned to notice Velvet standing in the open doorway.

She jumped back again at the sight of Emerald’s body. “O-oh god, I can never get used to this...”

“Oh, Velvet! Did you find something in Emerald’s room?” Ruby asked.

Velvet nodded. “Yes, actually.”

“How did you get in?” Jaune asked. “The door should be locked. And Emerald doesn’t have her scroll.”

“Her scroll was left in her room.” Velvet answered.

“Why would her scroll be left in her room?” Coco asked, adjusting her glasses again. “Hm...”

“But yeah, when we got there,” Velvet continued. “Beochi appeared. He said that he was willing to help us, and that the lock didn’t matter since Emerald was dead or something, said ‘open sesame’ or whatever and the door is now permanently unlocked.”

Jaune raised his eyebrows. “Huh.”

“Did you ask him about the whole cause of death thing?” Ruby asked.

“We tried!” Velvet replied. “But he vanished before Fox could finish the question.”

Sage put a hand to his chin. “He has to be hiding it on purpose.”

“Why would he do that?” Ruby asked.

“No clue. None of us are anywhere near to understanding that creature’s thought process.”

“But anyway,” Velvet continued. “We did find something. You’re gonna want to see this.”

“You did?” Ruby asked. “What is it?”

Velvet grimaced. “It’s a lot easier to show you...”

The five of them arrived at the door to Emerald’s dorm room. Ren, Penny and Fox were waiting outside.

“Oh good, you’re here.” Fox noted as they walked over. “You guys find anything?”

“Quite a bit.” Ruby explained. “The file was right about blunt force trauma, but the wound didn’t seem as fresh as the others. And there were also scraps of plastic sticking to some of the spikes.”

“That’s...Odd.”

Ren hummed thoughtfully, spinning the faded lotus flower in his hand. “This case is a lot more mysterious than it first seemed.”

“And we still don’t know the cause of death either.” Penny agreed. “That’s quite a major problem.”

“Yeah. Quite.” Jaune agreed. “Anyway, what’d you find in here?”

Velvet didn’t say anything. She merely gulped nervously and pushed the door open.

The first thing everyone took notice of was the bloodstain in the middle of the carpet on the floor.

Ruby gasped. “What!? Why is there blood here!?”

“That’s exactly what I thought!” Velvet replied.

“Let’s take a closer look inside.” Coco said. The others agreed and walked in.

Sage knelt down to take a closer look at the bloodstain.

“Hmm...” He mused. “It’s dried in.”

“Huh?” Ruby asked.

“The blood’s dry. If you feel where the stain is, it isn’t wet.”

“I’d rather NOT feel it, thank you very much!”

“That means it’s been there for a while, right?” Fox asked.

Penny tilted her head. “Hm. How strange.”

“Guys, look at this!” Coco called over.

She was holding up a thick strand of rope.

Ren nodded. “I recognise that. That’s from the armoury, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it was just lying on the floor.”

“That’s weird...” Ruby said.

She looked off to the side, and noticed something on the wall behind the desk.

She gasped a little and ran over.

“What is it?” Jaune asked.

Ruby went over to get a closer look, and her suspicions were confirmed.

“Guys, there’s blood on this wall!”

“Huh!?” The others ran over to see.

Sage grimaced. “...Yeah, that’s definitely dried blood...It must have dripped from something.”

“Yeah, but from what-” Ruby started to ask, but noticed something on the desk.

The typewriter had been shoved against the wall, directly above where the dripped bloodstain was.

Ruby picked it up, and her suspicions were confirmed.

The back of the typewriter was caked in dried blood.

Penny put a hand to her mouth. “My goodness…!”

“At least we know where the blood on the wall came from...” Ruby grimaced. “Maybe the killer put it back in a rush and forgot to clean up the blood on it.”

Sage nodded. “Good deduction.”

Ruby carefully put the typewriter back. “Is there anything else in here?”

Coco seemed to have noticed something on the desk and picked it up.

“There’s a note.”

“What does it say?” Ruby asked.

“‘I need to talk with you about the motive Beochi gave us. Meet me in my dorm room tonight. It’s very important. E’.” Coco read.

“So someone invited someone into their room?” Fox asked.

Jaune grimaced. “Sounds like a trap...”

“Maybe the other person was desperate?” Ruby suggested.

Coco shrugged. “It’s possible...But this does seem important as well.”

“Gah!” Ruby cried out in frustration. “This just keeps getting more and more confusing!”

“Don’t worry,” Jaune reassured. “We’ll be able to put everything together when the trial comes.”

As if on cue, a familiar chime sounded and the speaker outside hummed to life.

Jaune raised his eyebrows. “Huh. Speak of the devil.”

“Attention all students!” Beochi’s voice announced. “Here’s hoping you investigated enough, ‘cus it’s time for the class trial! Head to the amphitheatre on the double!”

“It’s already time for the trial!?” Ruby exclaimed as the speaker died down. “But we barely know anything!”

“We did find out a lot.” Coco pointed out, pushing her glasses up. “We’ll hopefully be able to put all the pieces together during the trial.”

Ruby nodded nervously. “Right...So should we just head to the amphitheatre?”

Coco nodded back. “Good idea.”

Everyone started to leave, but before Ruby went out the door, she noticed something on the ground.

“Emerald’s scroll?” She picked it up. “What’s this doing here?”

“Oh yeah, I said it was in here.” Velvet replied. “She must’ve just left it here.”

“...I dunno, it seems odd...Shouldn’t it have been on her body?”

“It might be something to bring up during the trial.” Sage answered. “Speaking of which, I don’t think Beochi will be too happy if we’re late.”

Ruby shakily nodded. “R-right.” She put Emerald’s scroll back down on the floor and followed them out.

They walked in the amphitheatre to find the elevator door already open, with people already walking inside.

Ruby raised her eyebrows. “That was awfully quick. Did Beochi not say anything?”

Neptune shook his head. “Nope. He just opened the door when we came in and vanished.”

“We still need to get an explanation for his omission of the cause of death from him.” Sage noted.

“Maybe that’s why he made himself scarce?” Weiss suggested.

Fox shrugged. “Probably.”

When everyone got in the elevator, Ruby noticed that Mercury had rejoined them.

“Hey!” She said. “Are you doing okay?”

Mercury didn’t reply. His arms were folded and his gaze was set on the ground.

“...Oh. Do you need space?”

Mercury still didn’t say anything.

_I guess Pyrrha didn’t have much luck either…_

“Look, uh...” She started. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay?”

No response.

Ruby took a step back and sighed.

They were hopefully going to figure this out. But now Ruby was fully aware of what that meant.

They were going to find Emerald’s killer, but in return, they’d also have to die in a tailor-made punishment.

She grimaced, her fist shaking.

_Would figuring this out really be right if someone else had to die because of it?_

Before she could dwell on this further, the elevator came to a stop and the door opened.

The trial room felt slightly different this time, with a murky, stormier light shining through the stained glass windows.

Waiting for them to arrive on his throne was Beochi, with a sharp-toothed smile on his face.

“Everyone, welcome again to Beacon Academy’s trial grounds!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooooooooo  
It's already time for trial number two!  
Sorry again about the delays for this fic, chapter 2 (and also chapter 3) had to go through a major rewrite so it took me a while to get the parts done.  
Either way, I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading until the end!  
Who do you think Emerald's killer is? Please leave your theories in the comments!


	14. The Unusual Suspects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second trial begins, with this case being much more of a mystery than the last.

“Now, hopefully the rules are all fresh in your minds,” Beochi continued, as everyone made their way to their podiums. “But just in case, I’ll give you all a refresher!”

Ruby wasn’t paying attention as Beochi listed off the rules; it was essentially the exact same speech he said at the last trial.

The last trial that she thought would be the only one.

_Don’t dwell on that, we need to solve Emerald’s murder now._

When she got to her podium, she noticed that, similar to Scarlet’s, both Yang and Emerald’s empty podiums had been filled up by portraits. Emerald’s had a simple X, while Yang’s made it look like she was being consumed in flames, an unwelcome reminder of her execution.

This made Ruby remember that she’d be condemning Emerald’s killer to a similar fate.

She took a deep breath. _I need to try and not dwell on that…_

Once everyone got to their podiums, she decided to start things.

“Well, where should we start?”

Jaune hummed thoughtfully. “I dunno, there’s quite a lot to discuss here.”

“Is there?” Nora asked. “The case seems pretty simple to me.”

“What? How come?”

“Think about it! We know for sure that she died in the iron maiden, so the killer musta whacked her on the head with a heavy object and stuffed her inside to finish the job!”

“No, I don’t think so.” Ruby countered.

“Huh!? But that’s obviously how it went!”

“I mean, that is possible, but we don’t know if she died in the iron maiden for sure. The file never said a cause of death, remember?”

“Yeah, about that.” Sage turned over to Beochi. “Care to explain why?”

Beochi was apparently starting to take a nap, as he snapped awake when Sage addressed him. “Huh? Wha?”

“The cause of death! Why didn’t you say what it was!?” Ruby asked.

“...Oh yeah, that!” Beochi laughed. “To make the case more interesting, of course!”

Ruby was taken aback. “What!?”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “More interesting, how?”

“Well,” Beochi explained. “If I said what the cause of death was, your friend would’ve had a point. The case would’ve been cut and dry. A little _too_ cut and dry for my tastes, actually.”

“So you took the cause of death out on purpose to make the trial harder for us?”

“You got it, Timelord! After all, it wouldn’t be a worthwhile trial if it lasted less than an hour.”

Ruby was dumbfounded. “T-that’s...”

“Anyway, where were you guys? Don’t you have a discussion to do?”

Jaune sighed. “As annoying as he is, he’s kinda right. I mean, it was wrong for him to not tell us how she died, but we can’t let that get us off track.”

“Right,” Ruby agreed. “But either way, we don’t know for sure if she died in the iron maiden because of that. It’s possible that she died from something else.”

“Like what?” Weiss asked.

Penny raised her hand, bouncing up and down excitedly. “Oh! I know! I know!”

Sun’s tail flicked to the side. “You have an idea?”

“Yes! I think I know how she died!”

“Cool. Shoot.”

“When we were investigating Emerald’s dorm room, we found a thick strand of rope from the armoury. She must have been strangled with that rope!”

“Strangulation?” Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes! And they hid the body in the armoury to divert attention away from the crime scene, but the killer left the rope in the dorm room by mistake!”

“Huh. That DOES kinda make sense.” Sun mused.

Sage shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh? Why not?” Penny asked.

“Well for starters, it doesn’t explain the head wound. If Emerald died via strangulation, what would the point of the head wound be?”

“Hmm...I guess I do see your point.”

“Well, what if the killer hit Emerald with something to stun her?” Fox suggested. “‘Cause I doubt it’s that easy to get a rope around her neck on it’s own. Maybe they wanted to slow her down.”

Coco shrugged. “That does sound plausible.”

Sage shook his head again. “Again, no.”

“What!? Why not!?” Fox asked.

“Because last I checked, strangulation via a rope leaves bruising around the neck. There wasn’t any mention of that in the Beochi file.”

“Well, he didn’t tell us the cause of death.” Sun pointed out. “Maybe he didn’t tell us about that on purpose too.”

“Well yeah,” Ruby explained. “But when me, Sage, Coco and Jaune were looking at the body, we didn’t see any bruises on her neck.”

“Maybe it was covered up by the blood? There was quite a lot of it.”

Ruby thought to herself. “...Okay that DOES sound possible...But we can’t really confirm anything yet.”

Jaune agreed. “Yeah, we aren’t really getting anywhere if we’re just focusing on figuring out how she died.”

“Well what about Emerald’s head wound?” Blake suggested. “It sounds pretty important to me.”

“Yeah,” Coco agreed, turning to Sage. “Sage, you noticed something strange about the head wound, right?”

“Huh? Did he?” Nora asked.

Sage nodded. “Yeah. The wound wasn’t fresh.”

“Eh? Fresh? What does that mean?”

“It means that the wound had at least a few hours to dry out and-”

“Nonono, please don’t go into the gross stuff!”

“Okay, okay. Because the wound has had enough time to dry, that means that the blow to the head wasn’t inflicted recently.”

“It wasn’t?” Pyrrha asked.

“Huh. That IS actually pretty strange.” Fox mused.

“Do you have any idea what caused the wound?” Yatsuhashi asked.

“We do, actually!” Ruby replied. “When we were looking at Emerald’s room, I found that the back of the typewriter in her room was covered in dried in blood.”

Ren nodded to confirm. “Yes, there was dry blood running down the wall it was against as well.”

“I figured that maybe the killer put it back in a rush and forgot to clean up the blood.”

“That would explain why it was given time to drip down the wall,” Pyrrha mused.

“Yeah!” Nora agreed. “They musta smooshed the typewriter against the wall!”

“And we know how heavy those things are, right?” Ruby suggested. “A typewriter has to be heavy enough to be used as a weapon.”

“So the killer smashed the typewriter on Emerald’s head?”

“Looks like it. There was a pretty big dried-in bloodstain on the floor in her room too.”

Sage hummed thoughtfully. “Makes sense...It didn’t look like there was anything obviously lethal, so they gravitated to the heaviest holdable object they could find.”

“Wait, but what about the rope?” Neptune asked.

“The rope?”

“Yeah, why’d the killer need to use the typewriter if they could’ve just used the rope? Rope seems just as lethal to me.”

Sage thought for a moment. “...That...Is quite a good point.”

Jaune agreed. “Yeah, I mean the rope was just lying there. I don’t think the killer would’ve had a hard time getting to it.”

“Sure, but they used the typewriter instead.” Neptune continued. “They didn’t even bother cleaning up the blood! So what gives?”

Nora threw her head back and cried out in frustration. “Gaaah! This is getting way too confusing already!”

“Yeah, I agree with that...” Ruby said, nodding halfheartedly. “Her head wound’s dry, we have no idea how she died, and the killer could’ve used an easier weapon and we have no idea why!”

“Yeah, no.”

Ruby froze when, after apparently giving everyone the silent treatment for the entire investigation, Mercury finally said something.

“We do know the cause of death, actually.”

Ruby stopped. “Huh!?”

“That’s...” Sage started, surprised. “Quite a bold claim for someone who didn’t really participate during the investigation.”

“That doesn’t mean I haven’t been listening, Sage. You should’ve noticed by now.”

“Noticed what?”

“Oh, come on. The cause of death is obviously blunt force trauma from the head wound.”

“What!? What makes you so sure about that!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“Think about it. What was the weird thing about that head wound that Sage pointed out in the first place?”

Ruby stopped to think

“...That it was all dried out?”

“Got it. You said that bloodstain in Emerald’s room was dried-in too, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that must’ve been where the killer struck her. The blood on the typewriter and on the wall was all dried-in too.”

“Exactly. But, taking that in mind, there’s something wrong with the state I found her body in, isn’t there?”

Ruby tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it. Sure, it didn’t seem off at the time, but it doesn’t really make sense if we consider that she died from being hit with the typewriter.”

She shook her head. “Mercury, you’re not making any sense right now.”

“Yeah, duh. You need to think about it. You aren’t getting anywhere if you don’t backtrack a bit.”

Deciding to follow Mercury’s cryptic instructions, Ruby decided to think back.

_What could Mercury mean? There didn’t SEEM to be anything weird about the crime scene! I mean, she was locked in an iron maiden and there was blood dripping everywhere! That makes sense to me!_

_...Hold on._

_There was blood dripping everywhere._

_If the blood from the head wound was dry, then…!_

“The blood!” Ruby realised. “You mean the blood, right?”

Mercury nodded. “You got it.”

“Wait, what!? What ABOUT the blood!?” Jaune exclaimed.

“Well, the reason we found out about the body in the first place was because of all the blood dripping out of the iron maiden when we walked into the armoury.” Ruby explained.

“Yeah, what about that doesn’t make sense?”

“Well, both her head wound and all the blood from it was dry, right? All the blood from the iron maiden was very much still wet!”

“Yeah, what about-” Jaune stopped. “...Wait a minute!”

“Actually, that...DOESN’T make sense.” Sage realised. “How did I not catch onto that…!?”

“The way the killer set it up, probably?” Mercury suggested with a shrug. “It doesn’t really look iffy until you take a closer look at the details.”

“W-” Sun started. “Why the hell didn’t you bring that up until now!?”

“Wanted to see if you idiots could figure it out first.”

Ruby gave him a relieved smile. “There’s the Mercury I know.”

Mercury gave her a smirk. “Why’d you think I left?”

Ruby nodded, and got back on track. “Either way, that doesn’t really make sense. If her head wound and the blood from it had enough time to dry out, why was her blood from inside the iron maiden still wet?”

“That IS a rather strange matter...” Penny mused.

Coco adjusted her glasses. “This case keeps getting more and more confusing by the second...”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Can definitely attest to that.”

Ruby realised something.

“Hold on,” She said. “What if they were done at two different times?”

“Two different times?” Sun echoed.

“Think about it. What if the killer killed Emerald with the typewriter in her room, and came back a while later and moved her body to the iron maiden? That would give the blood enough time to dry out, right?”

Sage put his hand to his chin. “Most likely, depending on the size of the time gap between them killing her and moving the body and us finding it.”

“Yeah, if the body was only moved to the armoury recently, that would explain why the blood there is still wet!”

“So you’re suggesting,” Pyrrha started. “That Emerald’s been dead since _last night!?_”

Ruby shuddered. “Looks like it...”

Mercury grimaced. “The blood’s dried-in and the head wound isn’t fresh, so that does seem to be the case.”

“Yeah and besides,” Jaune agreed. “It would make sense for them to move around the body at night since all of us would’ve been asleep.”

“There’s a problem with that though,” Coco said. “Since nobody can attest to anyone’s alibi at that time, it’s gonna be a lot harder to find the killer.”

Fox nodded. “Unfortunately, yes...”

“Is there anything else that can prove this?” Yatsuhashi asked. “It does make sense, but is there anything that can prove that this happened for sure?”

Ruby thought for a moment before realising something.

“Her scroll!”

“Oh yeah,” Coco seconded. “Emerald didn’t have it on her body, right?”

“Yeah, she didn’t! And it was just lying in her room!”

“So what? She could’ve just left her scroll in her room.” Weiss said. “No big deal there.”

“I don’t think so.” Ruby disagreed. “Emerald probably would’ve had her scroll on her I think. And it would’ve been on her desk or something if she had just left it to charge, right?”

“...True. So how DOES Emerald’s scroll prove this theory?”

“Well, our dorm room doors are locked by scroll scanners, right?” Ruby explained. “I figured that after killing Emerald, the killer stole her scroll so they could get into her room later so they could move the body to the armoury!”

Blake raised her eyebrows. “...That...DOES make some sense. It would be a real problem for the killer if they couldn’t get into her room when they wanted to move Emerald’s body.”

“Yeah, exactly! The killer must’ve left it in her room by mistake, maybe?”

“For someone who was smart enough to set this whole thing up, forgetting about something like her scroll is pretty dumb.” Mercury commented.

“They must’ve had a lot to set up, I guess. It must’ve just slipped their mind.”

“Okay,” Weiss said. “So you’re saying the killer killed Emerald with the typewriter and hid her body in the iron maiden?”

“I mean, that’s what it looks like,” Ruby explained. “But it feels like it’s more than just hiding the body.”

“‘Course it is.” Mercury agreed. “If they wanted to just hide the body there, why would they have put the spikes in? There would’ve been much more space without them.”

“Yeah, that’s right! And there would’ve been less blood, wouldn’t there?”

“There wouldn’t have been much blood, anyway.” Sage explained. “Since the body had already been dead for a while, it wouldn’t have bled as much.”

“Exactly! It-”

Ruby stopped, suddenly realising something.

“...What was that last part, Sage?”

“If the killer moved the body at a later point, there wouldn’t have been as much blood. Emerald had already been dead for a while. Why, did you think of something?”

Ruby didn’t say anything at first. The pieces were starting to fly together in her brain.

_If what Sage is saying is right – which it probably is, I mean this is Sage we’re talking about here – there shouldn’t have been that much blood…_

_But there was blood everywhere! There was even some dripping out of the door when Mercury and I came in!_

_So what-_

_Wait, the drawer!_

_That means…!_

“...All that blood was fake.”

Sage stopped. “What?”

“All that blood from the iron maiden! All of it was fake!”

“The blood was _fake!?”_ Jaune asked. “Where the hell did THAT come from!?”

“I just realised because of what Sage just said earlier! Since Emerald had been dead for a while when the killer moved the body, there wouldn’t have been that much blood at all when she was stabbed by all those spikes, right?”

Sage nodded to confirm. “Yes. The blood would have at least started to set by then, so it wouldn’t have drawn as much blood as it would have if it was alive.”

“Uhh...Can someone translate that?” Nora asked.

“Depending on how long it’s been after it died, a dead body shouldn’t bleed as much as a living one.”

“Oh. Got it.”

“Wait, hold up!” Sun started. “But there was blood everywhere when we came in!”

“Exactly! That’s what doesn’t make sense!” Ruby said. “So that blood has to be fake! I can even prove it!”

“Really? How?” Weiss asked.

“One of the drawers on that fancy display table in the armoury was slightly open. I went to see what was inside, and it was full of these little blood bags.”

“Blood bags!?” Neptune asked, taking a step back.

“Yeah, blood bags! And it didn’t seem full, so the killer obviously took some out. And not just that, when Coco was looking at the iron maiden, there were these scraps of bloody plastic on some of the spikes.”

Coco nodded. “Can confirm.”

“So when the killer put Emerald’s body into the iron maiden, they also put in a number of those blood bags?” Pyrrha asked.

“Yeah, exactly!” Ruby confirmed. “And when the killer closed and locked the iron maiden’s door, the blood bags popped against the spikes and all the blood inside leaked out! That’s where all the blood came from!”

“...Huh. That DOES make sense.” Mercury noted, before turning to Beochi. “Quick question. Is the blood in those real?”

Beochi shook his head. “Nope! All the blood in those blood bags is 100% F-A-K-E! Fake!”

“...Why did you need to spell it out?”

“I think the main question is why there’s all that fake blood in the armoury anyway.” Jaune said.

“So any potential killer could use it in their murder plots.” Beochi explained. “And this one used them exceptionally well!”

“Why would they need all that fake blood in the first place, though?” Velvet asked. “It just sounds unnecessarily messy...”

Ruby thought for a moment before getting the answer.

“They wanted to make it look like she died in the iron maiden!”

“Huh?”

“Think about it! Why would they put the spikes and fake blood there otherwise? They wanted to hide the fact that she died from a blow to the head!”

Mercury nodded. “And it looks like Beochi decided to give them a helping hand.”

“Of course I did!” Beochi replied with a smile. “If I said the cause of death was blunt force trauma, that would’ve ruined the killer’s surprise! And nobody likes spoilers, huh?”

Sage shook his head. “I seriously struggle to understand you sometimes.”

Beochi gave him a wink. “That’s the way I like it, Timelord.”

“Okay...Beochi’s craziness aside,” Ruby started, turning back to address the group. “We now know how Emerald died. That’s progress!”

“Not just that, the killer’s plan was pretty complicated,” Mercury added. “Since they went to the trouble of moving the body to hide the cause of death and all.”

“Well yeah, but we still have no idea who the killer is.” Jaune pointed out.

“And there’s the whole thing about the rope!” Neptune agreed. “Why did the killer bother coming up with such an unnecessarily complicated plan when they could’ve just killed her with the rope?”

“...Okay, we didn’t make MUCH progress, but it’s still progress.” Ruby said.

“The annoying thing here is unlike last time,” Mercury explained. “The killer made their move last night. And since the rest of us were asleep, we can’t keep track of any alibis.”

“So anyone can be the killer?” Pyrrha asked.

“If the killer killed Emerald last night and moved her body early this morning, that’s what it looks like.”

“What if the killer killed her before then?” Ruby asked. “Like, a few hours before we went to sleep, and then moved her body later that night. They would’ve felt safer to do that since we all were asleep.”

“Sure, but that still brings up the same problem. Anyone can still be the killer.”

Ruby’s face fell. “Oh, that’s right...”

“Actually,” Jaune said. “If you’re right, we might be able to narrow down the suspect list a bit.”

Ruby perked back up. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah. That group meeting we had last night, remember?”

Ruby realised what he was talking about.

“Oh! Oh, yeah! The murder could have happened around then!”

Sage seemed to agree. “Not everyone was asleep then, but it would have been a good time to catch Emerald unawares.”

“Not just that,” Jaune continued. “If we take everyone who showed up off the suspect list, we’ll be able to narrow things down.”

“Yeah, since we were all in the dining hall,” Ruby agreed. “We know nobody there would have been able to kill Emerald!”

Weiss nodded. “I agree. Eliminating everyone at the meeting from the suspect list sounds like a good plan.”

“Let’s hear it, then.” Mercury said, nodding over to Jaune. “Who wasn’t there?”

Jaune stopped to think.

“Let’s see...If I’m remembering correctly...You, Penny, Ren, Nora, Velvet, Yatsu, Neptune and Emerald.”

“Huh. That’s certainly a smaller suspect list.”

“Why are YOU happy about it?” Coco questioned, eyeing Mercury skeptically. “YOU’RE one of the suspects!”

Mercury raised an eyebrow. “Do you _seriously_ think I killed Emerald? We still have six other people to work with.”

“That doesn’t really prove anything in your defence.” Fox pointed out. “You’re just as suspicious as everyone else on that list.”

Mercury sighed. “Alright, fine. I’m on the suspects list. But I didn’t kill her.”

Sage raised an eyebrow. “That’s a bit of an oxymoron, Mercury.”

“Guys, please!” Ruby said, trying to break up a potential fight before addressing the group again. “We have a smaller suspect list now, at least.”

“So what, should we just get everyone’s alibis for that time?” Jaune suggested.

“Depending on if we can prove them,” Sage pointed out. “That might be too risky to rely on for suspecting anyone.”

“Well, Yatsu and I’s alibi isn’t risky!” Velvet replied.

Ruby turned over to her. “Really? What is it?”

“Velvet and I were spending some time in the library before heading to our dorms.” Yatsuhashi explained. “We left around the same time as your meeting broke up, as we briefly met with Coco and Fox when we left.”

Coco nodded. “Yeah, can confirm that.”

“Okay, so that rules out Velvet and Yatsu.” Ruby said. “That still leaves six more people. What about everyone else?”

“I was in my room trying to fix whatever that fucker used to jam my guns,” Mercury said calmly. “So I could shoot him if he tried anything.”

“Hey! Violence against me is against the rules, you know!” Beochi shouted.

“Does it _look_ like I care?”

“I was also in my room,” Nora explained. “I was reeeaally tired...”

Ren nodded. “As was I.”

Neptune also nodded. “Same here.”

Penny raised her hand. “Me too!”

“So except for Velvet and Yatsu,” Jaune said. “Everyone was in their rooms. And I don’t think anyone can prove that either...”

“Do you see what I mean about their alibis being too risky to rely on now?” Sage replied.

“Oh yeah.”

“Our alibis aren’t risky!” Neptune argued.

“Really?” Mercury asked. “Can anyone else prove ‘em?”

“…...I see what you mean now.”

“It’s likely the same for everyone else.” Sage explained. “But since we don’t have anything definitive to nail anyone down, we can’t exactly suspect anyone yet.”

“W-what!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“We at least unravelled their timing setup, but...” He tutted and shook his head. “There isn’t anything that points to a killer.”

“Gaaah!” Ruby cried out in frustration. “Why is this so confusing!?”

“We’re going around in circles here…!” Mercury said, frustrated. “There has to be SOMETHING that can point us to a suspect!”

“Hold on,” Jaune said. “Maybe we could use the mo-”

“ALRIGHT, FINE!”

Everyone froze.

“...Uh...” Jaune started. “You didn’t let me finish!”

“We have bigger things to focus on, Jaune!” Ruby said, before turning to face Sun’s podium. “Sun, what the heck are you saying!?”

He wasn’t even looking at them. His eyes were turned to the ground and he was clenching his fists tensely.

“...Alright, fine.” He repeated, not looking back up. “I killed her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuu  
Now we're getting into the meat of things!  
So, is Sun telling the truth? If he isn't, who IS Emerald's killer?  
You'll find out eventually~  
Thank you for reading to the end!


	15. Curveball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is immediately skeptical of Sun's sudden confession. After all, why would he admit to being the killer if there were still so many mysteries left to solve?

“Sun, what the heck are you saying!?” Ruby exclaimed in shock.

“What are you, deaf or something!?” He snapped. “I literally just said it! _I’m_ Emerald’s killer!”

“Wh- don’t be ridiculous, Sun!” Neptune argued. “No you’re not!”

“I’m not being ridiculous! I’m the culprit!” Sun waved over to Beochi. “Beochi, start the vote.”

“Eh?” Beochi, who was reclining on his throne, cocked his head in confusion. “But the trial’s barely started!”

“You heard me, Beochi! Start the vote, now!”

Everyone was in shock. They weren’t even halfway through figuring out the case yet, and Sun was suddenly admitting that he was the killer.

Not to mention the optimistic and somewhat cocky attitude he usually had was completely gone.

_What the heck is he doing!?_ Ruby thought.

“Why are you just sitting there!? Start the damn vote already!”

“Hell no I’m not gonna start the vote!” Beochi snapped. “The trial would be WAY too short!”

“I don’t care! Start the vote!”

“No! You’re not the boss of me!”

“Uh, are you guys gonna let me finish what I was trying to say-!?” Jaune started, but everyone ignored him.

“Sun, where the heck is this coming from!?” Ruby exclaimed. “Why are you saying that you’re the killer now!?”

“I didn’t want you guys to get confused and make the wrong vote, okay!?”

“If that’s truly how you felt,” Sage said skeptically. “Why didn’t you say anything before the trial began?”

“I...Uh...Do you think Beochi would _let_ me do that!? See, he’s refusing to let us vote even though I’m literally admitting that I’m the killer because the trial would be cut short or something!”

“Wait, this is all to confusing for me to process!” Penny interrupted. “IS Sun the killer?”

“Of course he isn’t!” Neptune argued. “He’s not even ON the suspect list we made earlier! He went to that group meeting last night, remember? He wouldn’t have been able to kill Emerald then!”

“O-of course!” Ruby said, breathing a sigh of relief. “So he’s not the killer. Okay, moving on-”

“Actually, if I remember correctly,” Fox started. “Didn’t Sun leave, like, halfway through the meeting?”

Ruby froze. “W...What!?”

“Yes,” Weiss recalled. “He had left his scroll in his dorm room and needed to go collect it.”

“Well yeah, he just needed to pick up his scroll, what about it?” Neptune asked.

“Well, that kinda puts him on that suspect list, doesn’t it?” Fox explained.

“Wait...” Ruby started, the realisation of what Fox was getting at slowly dawning on her. “I...It does…!”

“If we’re going by the timing theory suggested earlier,” Ren mused. “Than does that mean that he met with Emerald in that time period and killed her then?”

Fox nodded. “That’s what it looks like. Then he would’ve gone back to her dorm later in the night and set up the crime scene in the armoury.”

“W-wait, that’s probably just a coincidence!” Neptune argued.

“Neptune, drop it!” Sun snapped. “I killed her, okay!? Beochi, why aren’t you starting the vote!?”

“Yeah, but the fact that you’re only admitting it now makes no sense!” Mercury argued. “Not to mention, there’s still a lot of stuff about Emerald’s murder that doesn’t add up! Why did you decide to only say something now!?”

“Didn’t you hear me earlier!? Beochi wouldn’t have let me admit I was the killer before the trial! And besides, now that you know I’m the killer, you don’t need to worry about figuring out the rest of the case!” Sun shot a glare at Beochi, his tail furiously flicking from side to side. “If that bastard would just hurry up and start the damn vote…!”

“You’re not the boss of me, golden boy!” Beochi snapped. “I start the vote when **I** want to, not when one of my students wants to!”

Ruby shook her head, lost and confused as to what was going on.

_Why is Sun saying he’s the killer!? This is making no sense!_

_...Wait…_

_...What if it’s...Not meant to make sense…?_

“...Sun...”

Sun perked up when Ruby addressed him. “Hm?”

“Are you..._Really_ the killer?”

“What!? What do you mean by that!?” He argued. “Of course I’m the killer!”

“I don’t know. The fact that you only decided to bring it up now is making no sense.”

“Really?” Penny questioned. “How so?”

“Well, we had essentially hit a wall with our suspects list, right?”

Sage nodded. “Yes. Everyone other than Velvet and Yatsuhashi had an alibi we couldn’t prove, and we didn’t have anything to nail down any potential suspect.”

“What does that have to do with anything!?” Sun questioned.

“I don’t know, it just feels kinda weird that, as soon as we have no idea who the killer could be, you suddenly start going ‘hey, look at me, I’m the killer’. Don’t you think?”

Sun hesitated for a brief second. “I-I was just trying to push you in the right direction! That doesn’t prove anything!”

Ruby shook her head. “No, it still feels off. There’s still some stuff about the murder that doesn’t make sense, but you’re suddenly admitting you’re the killer now.”

Her silver eyes gleamed with determination. “Almost like you _want_ it to not make sense.”

Sun froze. “Wait, what!?”

“Ruby,” Sage started. “Are you suggesting that Sun is trying to misdirect us?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, I think Sun is trying to confuse us! He’s not Emerald’s killer!”

“W-what!?” Sun’s tail whipped angrily behind him. “That’s bullcrap! What the hell would I get out of that!?”

“Ruby literally just said.” Mercury answered. “You’re trying to stop us from finding out something about Emerald’s murder.”

“Yeah,” Ruby agreed. “There’s still quite a lot about the murder we don’t know. Like, what Neptune said about the rope, or why Emerald was even willing to meet with the killer in the first place.”

Mercury nodded. “Emerald’s not stupid. She wouldn’t have accepted a random invitation from someone after what happened with Scarlet and Yang.”

“But if that’s the case, why did she even meet with the killer?” Weiss asked.

“Exactly! There’s still a lot about this case that we don’t know!” Ruby announced. “Sun’s trying to stop us from finding out about something!”

“N-no I’m not!” Sun argued. “I’m not trying to cover anything up! I’M the killer! It’s just like Fox said, I left and killed her when I left to get my scroll!”

“He has a point,” Fox mused. “Whether he’s telling the truth or not, the fact that he left in the middle of your meeting still kinda makes him suspicious.”

“Well sure, but think about how long he was gone for.” Ruby explained.

“He was only gone for a few minutes.” Blake replied. “I mean, I was also reading my book, so it’s probably not that accurate.”

“No, you’re right. He wasn’t gone for long.” Pyrrha seconded.

“Okay, I was only gone for a few minutes.” Sun said. “That’s fine. How does THAT prove I’m not the killer!?”

“Well, think about it!” Ruby explained. “You would need to have enough time to disarm Emerald for long enough to kill her with the typewriter, right? I doubt she would have gone down that easy.”

Sun froze. “T-that’s…!”

“Yeah, Ruby’s right.” Mercury agreed. “Emerald would’ve put up a fight if someone was trying to kill her. It wouldn’t have taken just a few minutes.”

Fox hummed thoughtfully. “...Yeah, you have a good point. Considering how long Sun was gone for, he wouldn’t have had enough time to pull the first half of the murder off.” He laughed nervously. “My bad...I didn’t think of that.”

“That’s fine. We all make mistakes.” Ruby said reassuringly.

“Not to mention, where the crime took place.” Sage suggested. “If Sun really did summon Emerald to kill her, why would he have chosen to meet in her room?”

“T-to shift blame off of me!” Sun argued. “Obviously!”

Mercury raised an eyebrow. “Sun, we literally just proved you aren’t the killer. Lay off it already.”

“Hold on, Sage kinda has a point.” Ruby said. “I mean, there are plenty other rooms in the academy that the killer could’ve used as a meeting spot, right? Hell, they could’ve met with her in the armoury! That would’ve saved a lot of time for them!”

“Thinking about it like that,” Coco adjusted her glasses. “The fact that Emerald was killed in her room IS pretty suspicious.”

“Yeah, it’s not like she would’ve opened the door to the killer when they knocked or anything.” Mercury agreed. “Like I said, she’s not stupid.”

“So there has to be a specific reason why she was killed in her room...” Ruby said thoughtfully. “But what is it…?”

“Maybe there’s something in her room that could tell us why?” Blake suggested.

“You think so?”

“It’s possible. If there is a reason why Emerald and the killer apparently met up there, there has to be some evidence to support it.”

“Okay.” Ruby nodded and started to think.

_Blake has to be right. There has to be something in Emerald’s room that shows us why her and the killer met up there._

_But what? The main things we found were that bloodstain, the rope, all that blood on the typewriter, the letter and her scroll._

_Wait! I’ve got it!_

“There was a letter in Emerald’s room.” Ruby said.

“A letter?” Neptune asked.

“I can confirm this.” Coco seconded, pushing up her glasses with a smirk. “I mean, I was technically the one who found it.”

“What did the letter say?” Ren asked.

“If I’m remembering correctly, it said: ‘I need to talk with you about the motive Beochi gave us. Meet me in my dorm room tonight. It’s very important. E’. “

“An invitation?” Pyrrha questioned.

“Yeah, to someone’s dorm room.” Ruby replied.

“That sounds like a pretty obvious trap.” Weiss pointed out.

“Perhaps the invitee was hoping to catch the sender in the act of attempting to kill them.” Sage suggested. “Then they would report the act to us and present the note as evidence.”

“But it turned into another murder instead...” Ruby said with a grimace.

“Right, but who is ‘E’?” Fox asked.

“Ain’t it obvious?” Mercury said bluntly. “There was only one person here who’s name starts with E.” He turned his gaze to the ground. “...Keyword ‘was’.”

Ruby stopped. “Wait, so you mean Emerald wrote that letter!?”

Neptune took a step back. “Yeah, what!? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Well, why else would the killer have been there otherwise?” Mercury explained. “Emerald’s not dumb. She wouldn’t have accepted a suspicious invitation like that, even if it’s for the reason Sage brought up earlier.” He shrugged. “And besides, it solves that mystery you keep talking about.”

“Huh? What mystery?”

Mercury groaned and brought his hand to his head in annoyance. “THE ROPE, DUMBASS.”

“...Oh yeah, the rope. How does Emerald being the one who wrote the letter explain why the killer didn’t use the rope?”

It suddenly clicked, and Ruby was able to get on the same wavelength Mercury was evidently on.

“The killer didn’t use the rope...Because the killer didn’t BRING the rope…!”

Neptune stopped. “...What?”

“The killer wasn’t the one who had the rope in the first place!” Ruby realised. “EMERALD was!”

Pyrrha froze. “W-wait...If Emerald wrote the letter and was the one who had the rope...You DO realise what this means, right…!?”

“Of course.” Mercury said bluntly. “Emerald attempted to set up a murder.”

A chilling silence swept through the courtroom.

“T-the one who died tried to kill someone again…!?” Nora stuttered. “No way…!”

“Yes way. It explains why her and the killer met in her dorm room, why she invited the killer there in the first place, and why the killer used the typewriter rather than the very obvious rope.”

“So Emerald tried to strangle the killer with the rope, and the killer used the typewriter as an act of self defence?” Sage suggested.

“Looks like it. It’s possible that they didn’t even intend to kill her and came up with the iron maiden thing at the last minute.” Mercury explained. “That’d explain why they didn’t clean up the blood on the carpet and the typewriter, why they didn’t put her scroll back on her body, and why they didn’t dispose of the rope and the letter. They came up with their plan on the fly and hoped Beochi would give them a helping hand.”

“...You seem...Pretty calm about this...” Ruby said, concerned.

Mercury grimaced. “I started to figure that she had tried to kill someone when we started bringing up the stuff about her room.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything until now?” Sage asked.

“If I said ‘Emerald tried to kill someone and that someone killed her as an act of self defence’ a few minutes ago, would any of you had believed me? And besides,” He shot a glare at Sun. “_His_ whole thing didn’t help at all.”

Sun flinched back. “B-but I’m the killer! I don’t get why you don’t believe me!”

“You didn’t have enough time to kill her, Sun. With the fact that she likely attacked first too, that would’ve added more time to that. Just drop it.”

Sun grimaced and eyed the ground.

“Right, so now we have a better idea of what happened.” Ruby explained. “Emerald invited the killer to her room, and the killer decided to go to hopefully catch her in the act and report what happened to the rest of us. So when Emerald pulled out the rope, they grabbed the typewriter to hopefully disarm her so they could get away. But unfortunately, they hit her a lot harder than they intended and killed her by mistake...” She frowned. “So later that night, they came up with the idea of making it look like she died in the iron maiden in order to confuse us with the timing of events, in the hope that they would get lucky and Beochi would lend them a hand.”

“Right,” Sage started. “But we still don’t have any prime suspects.”

“And the only person who could be considered a prime suspect just essentially got proven innocent not even ten minutes ago.” Mercury seconded, flashing another glare towards Sun.

“But I’m not innoce-!” Sun started to argue.

“Shut up.”

“Yeah, but Sage has a point.” Velvet pointed out. “Other than Sun and the people on that list you guys made earlier, we don’t have anything to nail the killer down.”

“WE DO!”

Everyone stopped when Jaune _finally_ got the group’s attention.

“Huh? What is it, Jaune?” Ruby asked.

“THE MOTIVE! _I’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU FOR THE PAST TWENTY MINUTES!!!_”

“Wait, seriously!? Oh god, I’m so sorry! I guess I just didn’t hear you!”

Jaune sighed and brought his hand to his head in frustration.

“But yeah. I’m pretty sure the key to figuring out who the killer is lies in the motive.”

It was at this point that Ruby realised something.

“Actually,” She started. “While we’re on the topic of the motive,” She turned over to Beochi. “Hey, Beochi!”

Beochi, in the middle of a nap again, woke up. “Eh?”

“Why are we even HAVING this trial anyway!?”

Beochi was silent for a few minutes, but eventually breathed a massive sigh of relief.

“Oh god, FINALLY! I thought you idiots were NEVER gonna bring that up!”

“Why we’re having this trial?” Penny asked. “Whatever do you mean, Ruby? We’re having this trial to solve Emerald Sustrai’s murder case.”

“Well yeah,” Ruby replied. “But you remember the motive, right?”

“Yeah, we were all given targets. And if someone killed their target within a day, they would leave the academy without a trial.” Fox answered.

“Exactly! Since the murder happened last night, Emerald’s death was DEFINITELY within the 24 hour time limit!”

“So what,” Mercury asked. “Was Beochi bullshitting us?”

“Of course not!” Beochi replied nonchalantly. “Gotta keep this killing game fair!”

“So answer me! Why are we having this trial if Emerald’s death was within the time limit!?” Ruby demanded.

“Simple!” Beochi answered. “The criteria of the motive wasn’t met.”

“The criteria of the motive?” Sage repeated.

“So the criteria was that someone had to kill their target within the time limit, right?” Jaune asked.

“Wait, I’ve got it!” Ruby realised. “Since we know the murder was definitely within the time limit, Emerald wasn’t the killer’s assigned target!”

“Ohhh.” Mercury said. “That makes a lot more sense.”

“Since the murder was likely accidental due to an act of self-defence,” Sage added. “It would make sense that the killer wouldn’t have Emerald as their target. The only way Emerald would have been their target is if they were just insanely lucky.”

“And I don’t think any of us are that lucky...” Ruby joked with a nervous laugh.

“So we’re having the trial because Emerald wasn’t the killer’s target.” Fox said. “Right, can we stop talking about the motive now?”

Jaune shook his head. “Not quite. I said that the motive could nail down our killer, remember?”

Mercury seemed to get the wavelength Jaune was on. “Ohh, I see what you’re getting at, Arc. Yeah, we can’t drop the motive yet.”

“Why though?” Ren asked. “Since Emerald wasn’t the killer’s target, the motive has been rendered as useless, has it not?”

“Not exactly.” Jaune answered. “Sure, it’s useless for the killer, but it isn’t useless for us.”

“Jaune, what are you getting at?” Ruby asked, confused.

“Well, it’s kinda complicated, but it starts with all of us sharing our targets.”

“Really!?” Nora’s eyes lit up. “So we can finally say who we got now!? Because keeping that a secret was KILLING me!”

Mercury nodded. “If Jaune’s thinking what I’m thinking, then yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll start.” Jaune said. “I got you, Pyrrha.”

Pyrrha stiffened. “Really? That’s...”

“Save the emotional chat for later.” Mercury said. “Right now we need to share who our targets are. Speaking of, mine was little miss thunder over there.”

Nora laughed triumphantly. “HAH! Like YOU’D be able to defeat ME! I got Penny anyway, so it’s no big.”

“How truly enlightening!” Penny chimed.

“How are you HAPPY about this!?” Neptune questioned.

“My target was Sage Ayana, if all of are curious.”

Sage put his hand to his chin. “...Interesting. Either way, my target was Neptune.”

Neptune jumped back. “G-gah!”

Sage laughed to himself. “No worries. I wouldn’t have killed you.”

Neptune breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god...My target was Snow Angel, so I wouldn’t have killed them either...”

Weiss scoffed. “What did I say about that nickname!?” She growled. “...Whatever. My target was your team leader.”

Sun didn’t reply, nor did he take his gaze off the ground.

“My target...” Ruby started nervously. “Was you, Mercury.”

Mercury smirked. “Well, thanks for not killing me, then.”

“Moving on,” Blake said. “I got Velvet.”

Velvet’s ears folded over in annoyance. “Of course Beochi would put us together! What is this, profiling or something!?”

“Easy, Vel.” Fox reassured. “Just say who your target is.”

Velvet sighed. “Alright...I got Jaune.”

“As for me,” Fox said. “I got Coco.”

“Jeez, what’s with all this within-team targeting!?” Coco pulled down her glasses, annoyed. “I got Yatsu, this is just getting predictable.”

“You got me?” Yatsu asked. “Well, I got Fox.”

“See what I mean!? At least half of team CFVY’s targets are each other! This is insane!”

“G-guys, can we please calm down!?” Pyrrha attempted to reassure them. “To try and get off topic, I got Ren.”

“That just proves my point more!”

“Coco, please!”

Ren sighed. “...Anyway...I got you, Ruby.”

“Okay, so that’s everyone.” Ruby said.

Jaune shook his head. “Not quite.” He then flashed a glance over to Sun.

Sun’s gaze was still on the ground.

“Oh, right. Sun,” Ruby started to ask. “Who did you get for your target?”

He didn’t reply.

“Sun.” Ruby repeated. “You need to tell us who your target was.”

Sun balled his fists nervously and, after another few seconds of silence, finally sighed and said something.

“...I got Emerald.”

Ruby stopped. “Really?”

“Yeah. I got Emerald. That’s why I-!”

“Sun. You can stop now.” Jaune said bluntly. “If anything, the fact that you got her proves you aren’t the killer.”

“Yeah, since Emerald wasn’t the killer’s target.”

Sun grimaced and looked away. “Ngh...”

“So you were trying to misdirect us all along? Why?”

“Quite simple, actually.” Jaune replied. “He was trying to keep us from finding out who Emerald’s real killer was.”

Sun froze.

Ruby stopped and turned back over to Jaune. “What!?”

“Think about it. This entire time, Sun was trying to protect the killer.”

“What!? Why!?”

“W-wait, hold on a second-!” Sun started.

“Well, talking about the motive was a step in the right direction.” Jaune explained. “And once you realise that the killer is someone that Sun specifically wanted to protect, it all kinda falls into place.”

“Seriously! Stop it-!”

“But Sun would have nothing to gain from protecting the killer!” Ruby argued. “This isn’t like the last motive! Only one person really benefits from this!”

“We can get into all that later. What does matter is that we now have an idea who Emerald’s killer is.”

“H-huh!?”

“No, I get what Jaune’s saying.” Mercury agreed. “I realised what he was trying to do when he brought up the motive earlier.”

Jaune rolled his eyes. “Brought it up at least twenty minutes ago, but okay then...”

“Ruby,” Mercury said, turning over to her. “Just go through everyone’s targets one more time. Try to find the odd one out.”

“Mercury, stop it already!” Sun argued.

“The odd one out?” Ruby asked.

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to put it in simpler terms for everyone.” Mercury said.

It was at this point that Ruby realised what Mercury and Jaune were getting at.

_Wait...Do they mean that **that **person is the killer?_

_There’s no way…!_

_...But it would make sense...With the fact that Sun is trying to stop us from finding them out…_

_...It doesn’t really make sense right now, but...If Jaune and Mercury are right…_

_It has to be them!_

“Based on what we just heard...” Mercury continued as Ruby slowly realised the truth.

“_Who do you think __**Emerald’s**__ target was?_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUN  
And now we're finally at the accusation stage!...Kinda.  
I mean if you noticed the same thing Jaune, Mercury and Ruby noticed, you'd already know who the killer probably is, but yeah.  
Thank you for reading until the end! <3  
Please leave your theories on the remaining mysteries in the comments! (or just angrily scream at me, I don't mind)


	16. Even the Prettiest Flowers Die Someday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those born in shadows always find a way to fall back.

“I think I see what you’re saying now, Mercury.” Ruby said. “_Blake_ was Emerald’s target.”

Blake didn’t say anything. She hadn’t said much for a lot of the trial actually, so this wasn’t really new.

“Emerald’s target was Blake?” Penny asked.

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, if you go by process of elimination, Blake’s the only person who hasn’t been said. So that means that she was Emerald’s target!”

“Well, now we know everyone’s targets then! Good work, everybody!”

“Hold it.” Jaune said. “If you think about it, Blake being Emerald’s target is a lot more important than you think.”

“Oh? How come?”

“Well, you remember what Emerald was trying to do, right?”

She hummed thoughtfully. “If I remember correctly, Mercury deduced that she was planning to kill someone.”

“Yeah,” Coco agreed. “The letter, the rope, the fact that the killer was even in her room in the first place, that all points to Emerald planning a murder.”

“Exactly. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Ruby explained. “Who else would Emerald target for a murder besides...Well...Her target?”

Everyone froze when they realised what Ruby was getting at.

“W-wait, so you’re saying BLAKE’S the killer!?” Nora exclaimed.

“Remember how I said that the key to figuring out who the killer is lies in the motive?” Jaune explained. “This is what I meant. Since Emerald was trying to kill someone, she likely would’ve gone for her target to take advantage of Beochi’s motive.”

“Is that why you suggested for us to share our targets?” Yatsuhashi asked.

“Exactly. Once we figure out who everyone’s target was, we find who Emerald wanted to kill by process of elimination. And boom. We have a prime suspect.”

Coco hummed thoughtfully. “...That’s...Pretty sound reasoning...”

“B-but that’s just a theory!” Sun argued. “We don’t have anything for sure!”

Mercury narrowed his eyes, annoyed. “You again?”

“Sure, Blake was Emerald’s assigned target, but that doesn’t PROVE that Blake’s the killer! We don’t have anything that nails her down as the culprit!”

“Well yeah,” Ruby said. “We don’t have anything for sure, but going by what we just found out, we do have a reason for her to be a suspect.”

“And besides,” Mercury added, gesturing to Blake’s podium. “She’s not exactly saying anything in her defence.”

Mercury was right. In fact, Blake wasn’t saying anything at all.

Her eyes were on the ground, but she didn’t look angry or anything. She looked...Contemplative.

_Mercury’s right,_ Ruby thought. _She isn’t really fighting back.  
Why, though?_

_...Has she already accepted what’s gonna happen or something?_

_Blake...I’m sorry I have to do this…_

“But none of this proves that she’s the killer!” Sun argued, his tail whipping furiously behind him. “Emerald probably wasn’t even targeting her target at all! Ever think about that!?”

“Well possibly,” Sage replied. “But how would Emerald benefit there? If she didn’t attempt to kill while taking advantage of the current motive, that would just be a murder for no reason.”

“It’s possible that she was hoping to take advantage of the motive,” Ruby added. “Then get help once she escaped or something like that.”

Mercury shrugged. “It’s possible. Only thing is it has a murder attached to it.”

“Maybe she saw it as for the greater good or something.” Jaune suggested.

“How could a murder of any kind be for the greater good!?” Pyrrha argued.

“Think about it. If her plan succeeded and she killed Blake, she would’ve been able to save the rest of us. Taking one life to save many more. You see what I mean?”

Pyrrha pressed her lips into a firm line. “...I see what you mean, but it isn’t exactly moral...”

“Either way,” Sage continued. “She wouldn’t have benefited from trying to kill anyone else. Emerald had to have tried to kill Blake. There’s no question about it.”

“And since the person Emerald tried to kill has to be the killer,” Ruby seconded. “That unfortunately means...That Blake has to be the killer.”

Again, Blake didn’t respond. Sure, she was listening to every word everyone was saying, but she wasn’t fighting back.

Sun, however, was.

“B-but we have nothing to back that up! All we have that says that she could be the killer is just one piece of evidence! That’s it!”

“It’s pretty damning evidence.” Mercury pointed out.

“But it’s just one thing! There’s nothing that nails her down for sure! And besides, I was the only one who ever left the meeting!”

Mercury visibly tensed ever so slightly. “...You _what?_”

“No, he’s actually right for once here.” Coco said. “Sun was the only one who actually left. If I remember correctly, Blake didn’t leave at all.”

“T-there!” Sun said, almost triumphantly. “Blake can’t be the killer!”

_Crap,_ Ruby thought. _I was hoping that wouldn’t come up…! But Sun’s right, Blake didn’t leave her chair at all!_

_Alright, Ruby, think...How could the killer have left the room without any of us noticing?_

_...Wait a minute…_

_There IS a way someone could’ve done that!_

_There’s a way BLAKE could’ve done that!_

_I just have to show everyone!_

“That’s where you’re wrong, Sun.” Ruby said. “Blake can still be the killer.”

“W-what!? How!?” He questioned. “You heard what Coco said! I was the only one who left the meeting!”

“Well, kinda. You’re the only one we _saw_ leave the meeting.”

Sun froze.

“Blake still was able to leave.” She continued. “We just didn’t see her.”

“How is that possible?” Yatsuhashi asked, puzzled. “It’s not possible for someone to leave a crowded room without anyone noticing.”

“True,” Ruby said. “It wasn’t possible for someone to just walk out without anyone seeing. However...”

Her silver eyes gleamed with determination.

“There IS a way for _Blake_ to just walk out without anyone seeing.”

Weiss seemed to immediately catch the wavelength Ruby was on.

“Of course!” She realised. “She used her semblance!”

“Oooohhhh,” Nora said. “‘Cause she can make clones of herself, right?”

“Kinda.” Ruby explained. “From what I know, she can make a temporary clone of herself in the position she was just in, so she can make a sneaky escape while leaving the clone behind to take the hit for her. It’s really useful for dodging attacks.”

“Right, so that’s how Blake’s semblance works.” Fox said. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that she was able to leave without anyone noticing by using her semblance.” She continued. “She used her semblance and left to meet with Emerald, but to the rest of us it just looked like she was still reading her book!”

“She specifically asked us not to disturb her, didn’t she?” Pyrrha asked, the realisation coming to her as well.

“Exactly! Because if anyone tapped her on the shoulder or anything, the clone would vanish and the game would be up!”

“So, that settles it?” Jaune asked. “Blake was able to leave the room by using her semblance. Can we vote now?”

“Hell no it doesn’t settle it!” Sun snapped.

Mercury raised an annoyed eyebrow. “You’re _still_ insisting on doing this? It’s not funny anymore.”

“You don’t have anything to prove Blake used her semblance to leave the room without any of us noticing!”

“But Sun,” Ruby started. “Blake is the only one who _could_ do that. Like for example, if I used my semblance to try to pull that off, everyone would’ve noticed the rose petals scattered everywhere, right? But with Blake, unless someone touched the clone, nobody would’ve noticed.”

“But you can’t PROVE any of that! All of that is just a theory! You need solid proof!”

_Okay, this is just getting ridiculous…_

_Why is Sun so adamant that Blake’s not the killer, anyway!?_

_Hm..._

_Alright, I’ll just have to play along. There has to be something that proves that Blake used her semblance when she left the room._

_...Wait, could **that** be it?_

_I knew there was something strange about it! That’s what proves it!_

“Actually,” Ruby said. “There is something that proves it.”

“No there isn’t! You don’t have anything to prove that-”

“Sure, we didn’t see Blake leave, _but we saw her come back in._”

Sun stopped. “W-what!?”

“Wait, I think I know what she’s talking about.” Coco said. “Not long after you came back in, Blake suddenly appeared at the door saying something about dropping her book off at her dorm.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Ruby agreed. “And the strange thing was, I never saw her leave the room. I didn’t think anything of it then, but this proves it! She had to have used her semblance!”

“Well?” Jaune asked. “That enough proof for you?”

Sun growled in frustration. “...Alright, you have that, but that doesn’t mean that Blake’s the killer!”

“Uh, yeah. It kinda does.” Mercury said bluntly.

“Sun, I know you and Blake were close.” Ruby explained reassuringly. “But you can’t let how you feel get in the way of this. I had to learn that myself last time!”

“I’m not letting anything get in the way of this!” Sun snapped. “Because Blake isn’t the killer!”

_He IS letting his feelings get in the way of this._ Ruby thought. _He’s blatantly ignoring evidence because he doesn’t want Blake to get executed like Yang was._

_I totally get that! I don’t want Blake to get executed either!_

_But I have to show him something that can make him stop denying it…_

_...If I’m right about this...It might be able to get him to stop._

“Sun, you can stop denying it now.” Ruby said. “Because you _**know**_ Blake is the killer.”

Sun froze. “W-what!?”

“Yeah, what?” Sage questioned. “That’s a pretty bold thing to say.”

“Well, he started claiming that he was the killer before we even brought Blake up.” Ruby explained. “There has to be a reason for that, right?”

“To distract us from finding more about the killer, obviously.” Weiss answered.

“Yeah, exactly. But why would he bother doing that if he didn’t know who the killer was?”

Weiss stopped. “...That’s...A very good point.”

“Wait, so you’re saying Sun knew Blake was the killer this entire time!?” Neptune questioned.

“I don’t know,” Ruby answered. “Maybe he had just put it together at that point when we figured out how Emerald actually died. If my theory’s right, anyway.”

“Theory?” Jaune asked. “What is this theory?”

“Well, if she used her semblance, Blake could’ve left the meeting at any time, right?” Ruby explained. “We only know that she came back after he did.”

“Right, what’s your point?” Coco asked.

“My point is, she could’ve left right before Sun went to get his scroll.” Ruby said confidently. “Which means, he saw her going into Emerald’s room!”

“He what!?” Neptune exclaimed.

“No, I think I see what Ruby’s saying.” Sage said. “If Sun saw Blake going into Emerald’s room, that wouldn’t make any sense since he never saw her leave the meeting at any point.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Ruby agreed. “And once we figured out that Emerald was killed in her room, that’s when the lightbulb would go off!”

“And since they’re evidently pretty close, his first course of action would be to defend her...” Jaune mused. “That makes a lot of sense.”

“So THAT’S why he started insisting that he was the killer!” Nora realised. “He wanted to protect Blake!”

“But since the only evidence suggesting he was the killer got debunked fairly quickly,” Ren seconded. “That plan didn’t work.”

“He wanted to distract us from the truth in order to protect the killer...” Ruby said, before looking over to him. “Well, Sun? Am I right?”

Sun clenched his fists angrily. “O-of course you’re not right! That’s ridiculous because I-!”

He stopped, trying to find something to say to refute her.

“...Because I...She...Isn’t...”

He turned his glare to the floor.

It was at this point that Blake finally said something.

“Sun. Stop it.”

Sun froze and looked to her. “W-what!?”

She sighed. “You didn’t even need to defend me. It was a kind gesture, but this has gone too far. You can stop now.”

Sun returned his gaze to the ground.

“What, are you admitting it?” Jaune asked. “You killed Emerald?”

Blake frowned. “Possibly.” She looked over to Ruby with a kind smile. “It’s about time we went through this together, don’t you think?”

Ruby was shocked by Blake’s demeanour. “W-what!?”

“You heard me, right? We should put it all together now. You’ve all figured it out, anyway.”

“...Blake...” Ruby started. “...How are you so calm about this…!?”

Blake looked down, her ears folding down under her bow. “...I’ve long accepted what will happen...So go ahead.”

Ruby looked down and frowned.

Blake sighed. “I know you don’t want to do this. But you have to.” She gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, Ruby. Just go through everything like you did last time so it makes sense to everyone. Alright?”

Ruby didn’t reply.

_...I don’t want to do this…_

_Blake’s my teammate! I can’t just condemn her to death!_

_And why isn’t she fighting back!?_

…

She took a deep breath.

“Alright. Listen up, everyone. Here’s how this case went.

The person who set things off was the victim, Emerald Sustrai.

As a result of the motive Beochi gave us, she was planning a murder. To murder her assigned target, specifically, so she could leave without a trial and get help for the rest of us.

So she got some rope from the armoury and wrote out a note inviting her target into her room to talk about the motive.

However, this would prove to be deadly. As her target would become her killer.

The culprit was likely skeptical of the invitation, but decided to go anyway to either talk Emerald out of it or notify the rest of us when something happened.

However, there was just one problem. They had to go to the meeting that I arranged with some of the group that night in the dining hall.

Still, they decided to go to the meeting anyway. Because they had a workaround.

The workaround being their semblance.

You see, the killer’s semblance allows them to leave a shadow clone of themselves in the last position they were in while they make an escape.

And partway through the meeting, that’s exactly what they did. They used their semblance and left the meeting to meet with Emerald, leaving the rest of us none the wiser.

...Well, almost.

The thing is, someone did see them.

That someone was Sun.

When he had gone to his room to get his scroll, he saw the killer going into Emerald’s room, despite having just seen them in the room with the rest of us.

He probably didn’t think much of it at the time, but that’s what explains his apparent knowledge of who the killer was during the trial.

Anyway, back to the killer and Emerald. Since we don’t know what happened during their meeting, I can’t provide the full details.

I can imagine that Emerald put on a friendly front, but the killer called her bluff. Having been caught out, Emerald took out the rope to kill them, prompting the killer to arm themselves with the heaviest thing they could see; the typewriter on Emerald’s desk.

So they grabbed the typewriter and slammed it down on Emerald’s head.

The killer was likely hoping to disarm Emerald for long enough so that they could leave and report what happened to the rest of us back in the dining hall.

But unfortunately, either because the typewriter was heavier than they thought it was, or they hit Emerald harder than they intended, or a bit of both…

They killed her by mistake.

The killer was now panicking, realised they now had blood on their hands. And since Emerald wasn’t their assigned target, they couldn’t take advantage of the motive.

So they hurriedly put the typewriter back on the desk, took Emerald’s scroll and left back to the meeting.

Because of this, Emerald had already died and none of us had even realised it.

Why? Let’s get into that.

It’s been a while since we talked about the killer’s plan to confuse us about Emerald’s time of death, so let’s do a quick refresher.

Later that night, while all of us were asleep, the killer returned to Emerald’s room, using the scroll they took from her earlier to get in.

They then took Emerald’s body into the armoury. Because her head wound had already dried up, it didn’t leave any bloodstains to indicate her body was moved.

However, the killer did leave her scroll in her room. This was a pretty big blunder on their part, as it was part of the reason we figured out that the crime took place there.

Anyway, the killer took Emerald’s body into the armoury and began setting up a new crime scene.

They started off by stocking the iron maiden in the corner of the room with spikes, and then put Emerald’s body inside.

Since Emerald had been dead for a while, there wouldn’t have been much blood from the spikes. However, the killer had a plan for that.

They took the blood bags from the drawer on the display table, and placed a number of them all around her, before closing the iron maiden and locking it shut.

All of this was to make it look like Emerald had died inside the iron maiden rather than a blow to the head.

And luckily, Beochi decided to help them by omitting the cause of death from the Beochi File.

Why?...Well, he said that it would’ve made the case way too short, but I frankly have no idea.

Anyway, with this new crime scene set up, the killer left and went to sleep.

The next morning, when Mercury and I headed to the armoury to drop off a weapon I found, we saw the blood from all the blood bags the killer set off dripping out of the iron maiden. And when Mercury opened it up and we saw Emerald’s body, we all assumed that she was killed inside the iron maiden. Just as the killer planned.

But all their careful last minute planning has come apart, and there can only be one person responsible!

Blake, you have to be the killer!”

Blake gave a deep sigh.

She then gave Ruby a half-smile and a slight nod. “Not bad. I knew you had it in you.”

Ruby stopped. “Wait, so I was right?”

“Well, you all figured it out. It was only a matter of time before you put it together.”

“So does this mean I can actually start the vote now?” Beochi asked. “Because oh my GOD, if Golden Boy asks me to start the vote ONE MORE TIME…!”

“Don’t worry, there’s no need for him to ask. They all know who the killer is, anyway.”

“Ugh, finally!” Beochi clapped his hands together. “Attention, all students! Your voting time begins NOW!”

The voting grids unfolded out of everyone’s podiums.

Ruby was hesitant at first, her finger uncertainly hovering over Blake’s icon.

_Can I do this?...No, I can’t let my friendship with Blake get in the way of this._

She pressed on Blake’s icon and cast her vote.

Beochi chuckled. “All the votes are in! And I can say that you got it…

CORRECT! The killer of Emerald Sustrai was none other than Blake Belladonna! Wow, you guys are on a roll!”

Blake didn’t say anything in her defence. Her arms were folded and her expression was either contemplative or somewhat accepting.

“So,” Ruby started. “I was right? You ARE the killer?”

Blake sighed. “You don’t have to keep asking that, you know. You all know I’m the killer.”

“Why, though?” Sage asked. “I know Emerald’s death was accidental, but why did you come up with your plan with the iron maiden?”

“I was scared. I didn’t want to be discovered and I panicked, so I came up with the iron maiden plan to buy myself some time. But over time...” She took a deep breath. “I came to terms with what was coming.”

“Is that why you didn’t fight back?” Ruby asked. “I did find that kinda odd...”

Blake shrugged. “I guess it was. I mean, I knew I was going to die at some point. I guess I just didn’t expect it to come this soon.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

Blake’s expression hardened and her ears visibly folded down under her bow.

“I...Did a lot of bad things before I started at Beacon. I did a lot of bad things alongside even worse people. After I left them, I always had a lingering fear that what I did would come back to haunt me. I knew that it was possible that I would die as a result of everything I did...So dying would at least give me a chance to atone for all the sins I committed, in a way.”

Ruby’s expression fell. “Blake...”

“I never wanted to hurt anyone. Really. Unlike Yang, evidently...” Her expression turned to a hateful glare. “What she did was disgusting...Wherever she ended up, she’d better be paying for what she did…!”

“You say that,” Mercury said. “But accident or not, you still did kill someone.”

“You don’t think I know that? I already know I did something unforgivable. Hell, I’ve done a number of unforgivable things in my life. I’ve already accepted that.” She sighed. “At least what happens next is atonement for everything I’ve done.”

“What...Happens next-?” Ruby started, before freezing up at the realisation of what she meant.

Blake was going to be executed.

“W- no! You can’t just be executed! You can’t!”

“I have to, don’t I? An eye for an eye, as they say. And besides, I don’t think Beochi would be very happy if I refuse.”

“Of course I won’t!” Beochi chimed in. “That would just be a waste of a trial otherwise!”

“So what,” Sage asked with a grimace. “The entire purpose of this trial to you is just killing someone else?”

Beochi chuckled. “Whoops! Did I say that out loud?”

“Guys, calm down!” Blake pleaded. “It’s okay, you don’t have to try and stop him!” She sighed. “I’ve already come to terms with what’s going to happen, anyway.”

“How!?” Jaune questioned. “We all saw what he did to Yang last time! It’s not gonna be a simple guillotine blade or anything!”

Blake frowned. “I figured. But all the pain this execution will cause will be retribution for all the pain I caused in the past...” She laughed dryly. “Ironic, isn’t it?”

Ruby’s eyes started to water. “Blake...”

“Alright, now that that’s over,” Beochi said dismissively. “Can I get started now?”

“Hell no you can’t get started now!” Sun argued.

Blake turned to face him. “Huh? Sun, I already told you, you don’t need to protect me anymore-”

“I don’t _care!_” He shouted, with an unusual forcefulness to his voice, which caused Blake to stop.

“What the hell are you saying!?” He continued. “You’re about to DIE! Why the hell aren’t you fighting back!?”

Blake’s ears folded over. “Sun-”

“No matter what you did before coming to Beacon, you can’t have already accepted this! That’s just...Impossible! He’s about to KILL YOU, how the hell are you so calm about this!?”

Blake tensed and looked down sorrowfully. “...Of course I’m not truly at terms with this...I’m scared about what’s going to happen...But it’s fine. It’s a punishment for what I did. For _everything_ I’ve done, even! You don’t have to worry about me!”

“But what happened to Emerald was an accident!” He turned to Beochi. “You hear that!? She didn’t even mean to kill her! There has to be some exception in your rulebook for that, right!?”

Beochi smiled. “Nope! Accident or not, a murder is still a murder! And oh my goodness, wouldya just look at the time!” He pulled out a comically large clock, but instead of numbers, each segment read “PUNISHMENT” in bold letters.

Sun tensed, then ran over to Blake, holding her protectively.

Blake was surprised at the gesture. “S-Sun!? What are you-!?”

He shot Beochi a determined glare. “If you want to kill her, you’re gonna have to get through me first.”

Blake’s eyes widened. “W-what!?”

Beochi tilted his head in curiosity. “Oh?”

“W- Sun, what the hell are you doing!?” Neptune exclaimed.

“Sun, stop it! If you don’t let go of her, Beochi’s going to kill you too!” Sage seconded.

Sun didn’t listen to either of them, keeping a firm but not suffocating hold on Blake. “I don’t care! I’m not gonna let that bastard execute her!”

“What are you, crazy!?” Mercury exclaimed. “This’ll just piss him off even more!”

“Sun, you have to stop!” Ruby shouted. “This is going way too far!”

“No!” He shouted back. “I’m not gonna let her die-!”

“STOP IT!” Blake cried out.

Sun froze up, the shock causing him to release her and take a step back.

“Letting someone I care about die just because of my mistake is the last thing I want right now!” She argued. “I don’t care if you don’t want me to die! I don’t want another person to die because of me!”

Sun took another step back, then forced his gaze to the ground.

Everyone watched the scene unfold in stunned silence.

_...Someone...I care about?_ Ruby thought.

Blake must have realised she was being too forceful. “...I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to yell like that...I just don’t want someone else to die because of my stupidity...”

“Y-you weren’t being stupid!” Sun argued. “You didn’t mean to kill her! It was an accident!”

She sighed. “I didn’t realise how heavy that typewriter was...I probably should’ve just tried to disarm her by hand...Hell, it was a mistake to go to meet with her anyway. I should’ve just left it...This is all my fault…”

“It wasn’t your fault! Emerald was the one who wanted to kill you! If anything, it was HER fault!”

This prompted a glare from Mercury. He started to take a step forward, but Ruby grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Please don’t.” She muttered.

Mercury sighed and stepped back.

“Look,” Sun continued. “No matter what you did, you don’t deserve this!”

“Of course I do!” Blake retorted. “Even though I didn’t mean to, I still killed Emerald!”

“But that doesn’t mean you need to die in return!”

“Yes it does! I’ve already come to terms with what happens next!”

“But you haven’t though, have you!? You keep saying you’ve accepted what’s gonna happen, but you don’t want to die! I know that!”

Blake stopped, and looked away with a frown.

“...Yeah...I knew it was gonna happen, but...I don’t want to die...Hell, I’m scared of what’s gonna happen.” She gave a dry chuckle. “How pathetic is that?”

“It’s not pathetic, Blake! You can’t keep saying that! None of us want to die! That’s what makes us alive!”

Blake’s ears perked up and her eyes widened.

“...Not wanting to die is what makes us alive?” She repeated, before giving him a small smile. “Heh...You always have such a wonderful way of putting things.”

He started to tear up a little. “Blake...”

Beochi groaned and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, this is getting WAY too sappy for my liking! And besides, it’s getting late!” He produced his gavel in his hand. “Can we just get started with the execution already!”

Sun’s eyes widened and started to raise his hand to stop. “W-wait!”

Blake put her hand on his to stop him. “Sun. What’d I say about not needing to protect me?”

“I-I know that!...I just can’t help it...” He forced his gaze to the ground tearfully. “...I don’t want you to die...”

Blake looked at him pitifully, then sighed.

“I can’t believe I’m going to do this...” She muttered as she reached for her bow with her free hand.

Ruby froze, immediately realising what she was about to do.

Sun also realised this too. “Wait, what’re you-!?”

Before he could finish, Blake had already untied her bow.

She looked to the ribbon in her hand with wistful eyes.

“I won’t exactly be needing this anymore...” She handed it over to him. “Here.”

Sun’s eyes widened. “Huh!?”

“You were the one who made me realise I could be myself in spite of this thing. Giving it to you will be fitting, right?”

Using her free hand, she gently wrapped the untied ribbon around the wrist of the hand she was holding in place.

She released Sun’s hand and took a step back. This prompted him to take a closer look, raising his hand up so he could get a better look at how Blake had carefully tied the ribbon around his wrist.

“There.” She said with a smile. “I knew it’d look better on you.”

He tensed a little.

“You done?” Beochi quipped, impatiently twirling his gavel in his hand. “Can I get on with this now?”

Blake took a deep breath. “Yes. I’m ready.”

“Oh god, FINALLY!” The button appeared in front of him. “About damn time, too!”

Blake nodded solemnly and started to walk forward, but Sun took her hand before she could take another step.

“Blake, you can’t do this!” He pleaded desperately.

Blake sighed. “I have to, Sun. So don’t get yourself killed trying to stop me.”

She managed to get her hand out of his grip, and turned to him, as well as the rest of the group.

She had a regretful smile, and tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

“It really was a pleasure meeting you.”

Before anyone said anything else, Beochi was already twirling the gavel in his hand.

“Now, let’s give it _EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT!_” He announced, slamming the gavel on the button with a smile. “**IIIIT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!**”

_ **GAME OVER** _

_ **Blake has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!** _

Blake had been changed out of her outfit, now sporting a long white dress and her hands caged in ornate shackles.

A lavish church hall started to take shape around her, with the white garlands and various bouquets around the hall suggesting that it had been decorated for a wedding.

The only differences being that the audience in the pews were all faceless marionettes wearing Grimm masks, and where the priest would be standing was instead a large guillotine.

“_**The Patriot’s Last Dance” - Blake Belladonna’s execution**_

Blake was calm, as Beochi – dressed in a tiny black tux – appeared at her side and began to walk her down the aisle. She already knew she was going to die, so why bother fighting back?

It was at this point where she saw a reason to.

Just before the start of the pews on her right side, was an open door marked “EXIT”.

Before she could properly process what she saw, another of the marionettes appeared, but it was dressed a lot more than the ones in the pews.

He was dressed in a black tuxedo and was wearing a Grimm mask decorated with red patterns, but his spiked red hair neatly styled around his horns was what made Blake’s blood run cold.

This crude recreation of Adam Taurus smiled and offered her his hand.

The shackles holding her hands unclasped and dropped to the floor.

In a moment of panic, Blake immediately ran for the exit door, only for the Adam marionette to grab her tightly by the hand as the door slammed shut.

Blake reluctantly turned to face him.

He released his hand and bowed, as if he was offering her a dance.

Blake grimaced. She was going to have to deal with this after all.

Oh, well. She should at least face her fate with dignity like she promised.

She gave him a graceful curtsey before he took her by the hand, and signalled to someone waiting at a piano at the far side of the hall with a nod.

The marionette at the piano – who wore a red dress, a Grimm mask with small horns and had her hair tied in a long ponytail – smiled and nodded back, before turning back to the piano and starting to play [Für Elise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfF0zHeU3Zs).

The Adam marionette spun Blake around with his hand and began to gracefully dance with her.

Blake didn’t resist, not even bothering to fight against the twirls, sways and side-steps as their feet swept gracefully across the ground.

She didn’t exactly want to be dancing with the man who ruined her life, even if it was just a crudely-made recreation of him. But if this was how she was going to die…

...How WAS she going to die, actually?

She pondered her question as she was pulled into a graceful lift.

But before she could think on this further, someone crashed through the stained glass window at the front of the hall.

Her and the Adam marionette stopped dancing and turned to look at the stranger – a faceless person dressed like a medieval thief entirely in golden clothing – who had just joined them.

Without thinking, Blake punched the marionette of Adam in the face, forcing him to release her, before running down the aisle to join them.

She kept stumbling over the long skirt of her dress, but managed to get there.

The golden figure took her by the hand, and gently dipped her as if they were going in for a kiss.

Blake closed her eyes – glad that someone had at least tried to save her from this – but stopped and opened her eyes.

The figure had a wide, menacing smile.

Blake widened her eyes in horror.

Before she could do anything, the figure shoved her into the guillotine that Blake had just remembered was there, which snapped shut and locked her in.

Blake struggled to break free against the clasps keeping her in place, then turned to the figure who had just sealed her fate.

She screamed and reached out to them with tearful eyes.

The figure smiled and waved her goodbye.

The guillotine blade came down and decapitated her.

The figure turned away with a smile, not minding the blood pooling across the floor and staining Blake’s white dress, and started to nonchalantly walk back down the aisle as the audience applauded.

Sun couldn’t take it anymore and burst into tears.

“D-DAMMIT!” He choked out. “She didn’t deserve ANY of that! Why didn’t I do anything!? God DAMMIT!!!”

Ruby understood how Sun was feeling. He evidently knew Blake better than anyone else.

And hell, Blake was her teammate. She didn’t want her to die either.

She couldn’t stop herself from crying either.

“I-it’s okay,” Weiss said, putting her hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Just let it all out, okay?”

“It’s not okay...” Ruby said tearfully. “S-she’s dead! She’s gone, forever…!”

Sage grimaced at the long-dead video screen that just showed Blake’s demise. “That was even worse than the last one...”

“He sure is adamant on making the killer suffer before they die, huh?” Mercury questioned.

“Of course I am!” Beochi said cheerfully. “And this one was a treat!”

“I wasn’t asking you.”

“T-that was awful to watch...” Ren muttered with a frown.

“It would’ve been a lot worse to go through.” Coco added. “I feel bad for her...”

“But who was that man with the mask, anyway?” Penny asked innocently. “He seemed quite important.”

Ruby frowned through her tears and shook her head, having already heard part of the story from Blake herself. “You..._Really_ don’t want to know...”

Sun was still crying, prompting Neptune to run over to comfort him.

“H-hey,” He said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright, she’s in a better place than here now.”

“You don’t get it!” He sputtered. “Didn’t you see what just happened!?”

Neptune grimaced. “Of course I saw what happened...We all did...”

Sun looked down, briefly fingering the black ribbon that Blake had tied around his wrist.

“...She didn’t deserve to die like that...” He mumbled.

Everyone else was silent in solemn agreement.

Beochi, however, rolled his eyes. “Jeez, as much as I love your despair, this is just getting depressing. So I’m leaving now.” He gave a two-fingered salute before vanishing. “Later.”

Ruby eyed the ground tensely. “W-what are we gonna do now...?”

“It might be a good idea to head back to our dorms,” Sage suggested, turning to the elevator. “It is starting to get late.”

“If you think I’m gonna be able to sleep after seeing THAT, you have another thing coming!” Nora growled.

“We have to at least try. And besides, we can’t exactly stay the night here.”

Neptune nodded slowly. “He has a point...” He turned to Sun. “You wanna go back up to your room?”

Sun didn’t say anything, but gave a single nod.

“Right,” Sage started. “Now that everyone’s in agreement, let’s head back.”

Everyone agreed and filed into the elevator.

The elevator ride back up was filled with a suffocating silence.

And it unfortunately allowed Ruby to realise that, despite still having 15 people left, the elevator was already starting to feel empty.

She frowned and eyed the ground uneasily. _I have to try and stop thinking about that._

_I mean, we can still stop this killing game, right?_

_Right???_

…

_I’m honestly not sure anymore._

_We’ve already lost four people. Can we really stop this now that it’s started for real? What’s to stop more people from dying?_

…

_No._

_We can’t just give up just because of the people we lost._

_That would just be giving Beochi what he wants._

When the elevator doors open, she walked out with a determined stride.

_I’m never gonna let that happen._

**Chapter 2: Bloodied Ground is Where the Best Flowers Grow – completed!**

Students remaining: 1 5   
  
  


  * Team RWBY

    * Ruby Rose

    * Weiss Schnee

    * <strike>Blake Belladonna</strike>

    * <strike>Yang Xiao Long</strike>

  * Team JNPR

    * Jaune Arc

    * Nora Valkyrie

    * Pyrrha Nikos

    * Lie Ren

  * Team SSSN

    * Sun Wukong

    * <strike>Scarlet David</strike>

    * Sage Ayana

    * Neptune Vasilias

  * Team CFVY

    * Coco Adel

    * Fox Alistair

    * Velvet Scarlatina

    * Yatsuhashi Daichi

  * Mercury Black

  * <strike>Emerald Sustrai</strike>

  * Penny Polendina

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, chapter 2 comes to a close.  
Honestly, I feel that this chapter overall was WAY better than chapter 1.  
And also, this was one of my favourite executions to write! I had the idea in my head for a long time and I was actually really happy with the way I wrote it!  
And congrats to those of you who were able to guess Blake as Emerald's killer!  
And most of all, thank you so much for reading until the end of chapter 2! <3  
Next up is chapter 3 which, and I'm gonna say it upfront, is my favourite chapter for this story.  
Why? You'll just have to wait and see~


	17. Let's Play the Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the second trial, things don't seem to be getting any better for anyone.  
Aside from a new facility, apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this took too long, I just needed to do a lot of rewrites to this chapter and it took a while for me to get my motiviation to work on this fic back.  
But now, chapter 3, my personal favourite chapter of this fic, has begun! Yaaaaaay

It was a miracle that Ruby was able to wake up.

Firstly, there was the fact that she saw two more deaths yesterday.

And secondly, there was the fact that one of said deaths was another of her teammates, and that there were only two members of team RWBY left.

But she knew she couldn’t just stay in bed crying all day.

She had to keep moving forward. For everyone who died and everyone who is still alive.

_I have to keep moving forward._

That was the phrase she kept saying over and over in her head, almost like a mantra, as she made her bed, brushed her hair and washed over her face with water.

_I have to keep moving forward. I have to keep moving forward. I have to-_

Her pseudo-mantra was cut short by a knock at the door.

“Eh?” She turned to the door briefly before turning the sink off and grabbing a nearby towel. “Give me a second!”

After drying off her hands and face with the towel and adjusting her hood, she opened the door.

The person at the other side was probably one of the last people she expected.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she took a slight step back.

“Mercury?”

The boy in question looked back up to her. “Oh. Hey.”

“What’re you...Doing here?”

“I just wanted to see if you were doing okay after last night’s trial.”

Ruby frowned a little. “Could ask you the same thing, if we’re being honest here.”

Mercury stopped. “What?”

“After yesterday I mean. Are _you_ doing okay?”

He grimaced and eyed the ground.

“Not really...I get that she wanted to get help or something, but...” He sighed.

“I get what you mean. I get that what happened was an accident, but still...”

The two of them remained in an uneasy silence.

Mercury sighed. “Let’s just change the subject. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really wanna talk about last night anymore.”

“You and me both.” Ruby agreed. “I’m just glad you’re feeling a little better.”

He scoffed. “Barely.”

She shrugged. “Again, you and me both...”

A long awkward silence ensued.

Ruby was just about to say something when she heard Sage’s voice from a few feet over.

“So are you two going to do anything other than just standing there?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ruby couldn’t help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.

“I just wanted to see how she was doing.” Mercury answered. “You’ve come over to do the same thing, huh?”

Sage seemed a little taken aback by this question.

Mainly the fact that he was able to guess exactly what he was doing there.

Mercury chuckled to himself. “Thought as much.”

_I guess Sage and I have been hanging out a bit more since the first trial, so it isn’t a bad guess to make. _Ruby thought.

“Is everyone downstairs?” Ruby asked.

“I assume so.” Sage replied. “I only woke up recently.”

“Same here.” Mercury added. “So what, you two gonna head down?”

Ruby shrugged. “Anything else we can do?”

He stopped. “……Good point.”

“And besides, the armoury was opened after the last trial, remember? Beochi could have opened another room!”

“Also a good point.”

“So the most logical move is to meet with everyone to see if they found anything, isn’t it?” Sage proposed. “And as much as we don’t want to, talking about what happened last night may also be a possible idea.”

Mercury gave him a glare. “What, you out of your mind? What good’s that gonna do?”

Ruby shrugged. “Well, talking about things usually helps. Worked with me and Sage after the first trial.”

Sage nodded to confirm.

“So what,” Mercury started. “If we talk about it all our problems will magically go away? Yeah, no. That’s kinda impossible.”

“I know that!” Ruby argued. “Talking about it isn’t an instant fix! Hell, I still miss Yang even after everything that happened!”

Sage nodded again, this time with a slight frown as if to say he was also missing Scarlet.

“Talking about things won’t be an instant fix,” Ruby continued. “But it does help with the initial pain. What do you say?”

Mercury didn’t reply at first.

Then he sighed and gave an indifferent shrug.

“Whatever…”

Despite his indifference, Ruby took this as a yes.

“Great!” She replied, already heading to the stairs. “So let’s go!”

“Wait, I never said I’d-!”

Sage smirked. “It’s better to just go along with it.”

Mercury brought his hand to his head with a groan.

Ruby arrived in the dining hall with Mercury and Sage close behind.

The group – what remained of it, at least – were all seated at a table.

Ruby’s heart sank a little when she noticed that a lot less tables were being used than before, but decided to soldier on anyway and take a seat opposite Weiss.

“Hey.” She greeted.

Weiss nodded. “Good morning.”

They both really knew it wasn’t, since team RWBY had lost yet another teammate the night prior. They were really team RW now. What colour could even be made out of those letters?

However, it was still customary to be polite.

“Did you sleep okay?” Pyrrha asked from a few seats over.

“Somehow.” Ruby said with a shrug. “I’m surprised I slept at all, honestly.”

“Same here.” Mercury seconded.

“I think all of us are.” Coco said with a sigh.

“We should at least be glad it was an accident this time, shouldn’t we?” Penny proposed.

Coco shrugged. “I guess. But we still did lose two of our friends because of it.”

The robot girl looked down shamefully. “Oh…”

“Easy, Coco. She had good intentions.” Fox said.

Coco frowned. “I know…I don’t really know how to even feel about this…”

Ruby nodded uneasily. “You and me both...I mean, I get that Blake didn’t mean to kill Emerald, but she still killed someone! And she ended up dying too!”

Ruby was greeted with an uneasy silence.

She frowned and looked to the floor.

However, she did notice that two people were absent.

“Hey, where are Sun and Neptune?”

Sage frowned uneasily. “Sun’s still very upset about what happened, and he doesn’t wish to join us right now. Neptune decided to stay behind to comfort him.”

“Makes sense, since they’re best friends and all.” Jaune noted.

“I just hope he’s doing okay…” Ruby mumbled. _I need to try and talk to him later…_

Sage sighed.

“Can we just change the subject away from what happened last night?” Mercury asked. “I mean, I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

“I don’t think anyone does.” Ren agreed.

“Well, the armoury opened after the last trial.” Ruby proposed. “Do you think another room has been unlocked?”

Yatsuhashi shrugged. “It’s possible. I haven’t seen anything though.”

“Me neither.” Coco seconded.

“I mean, we only got up pretty recently.” Velvet pointed out. “Maybe we just haven’t seen it yet.”

“So should we try to find it?” Ruby proposed.

“I dunno,” Jaune said. “Beochi will probably arrive to say where it is any minute now.”

Right on cue, Beochi himself appeared before them.

“Good morning, students!”

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “Speak of the devil.”

“What are you doing here?” Mercury questioned.

“Temper temper, now!” Beochi tutted. “I have an-”

He stopped and quickly scanned the room.

“Say,” He asked. “Where are Sun and Neptune?”

“Sun’s holed himself up in his room and Neptune’s comforting him, because of what YOU did to Blake yesterday!” Ruby snapped.

Beochi shrugged. “Oh well, guess my handiwork doesn’t please everyone.”

“It pleases NO-ONE!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Jaune tried to calm her down, before turning back to Beochi. “You have an announcement, right?”

“Well I do, but it wouldn’t exactly be fair if everyone isn’t here to hear it, is it?”

“I’ll relay the information to them later.” Sage said. “Now get on with it.”

Beochi smiled. “Good to see their teammate being polite!”

Sage tutted. “Just get on with your announcement already.”

“Okay then! Like Little Red said, a new area has been opened!”

“There has?” Ruby asked. “What is it?”

“Well, I understand that young huntsmen and huntresses in training like you are need to keep your bodies in shape. To be strong enough to fight whatever enemy crosses your path, huh?”

“Well duh!” Nora chimed, puffing her chest out. “That’s why I start every morning with a 20-minute workout!”

“_Every_ morning?” Weiss said with a wince.

“Well the new facility will help with that 20-minute workout!” Beochi announced. “You might even extend it to 30!”

“Oh, is the new facility a gym or something?” Pyrrha asked.

“Exactly! It also connects to a swimming pool! So you don’t need to worry about losing your touch while you’re here!”

“Huh. Not as useful as the Armoury but not entirely useless.” Mercury noted.

“Hey! I gave you a new facility and THIS is how I’m treated!?”

“You gave us a new facility because Blake got executed!” Ruby argued.

“Exactly! I got rid of a murderer for you! Still waiting for a ‘thank you’ for that, by the way!”

Ruby growled under her breath.

“Either way,” He continued. “That area is now open for you! So have fun! Bye!”

With a cheerful wave, he vanished.

“I guess that answers that question.” Jaune noted.

“So what now?” Weiss asked.

“Well, I reckon some of us should look this place over. We need to see if Beochi left any weapons there, don’t we?”

“Besides, sitting here’s boring.” Fox added with a shrug.

“Fox has a point.” Yatsuhashi agreed.

“So it’s decided.” Jaune said, starting to get up. “Let’s find where this gym is.”

“Wait,” Ruby started. “What about Sun and Neptune?”

“What _about_ Sun and Neptune? You heard Sage earlier, Sun’s not leaving his room.”

“Well, someone should at least let them know.”

“I will.” Sage offered. “It only makes sense, they are my teammates after all.”

“You sure?” Ruby asked.

“It’s fine. I can find my own way to the new area.”

“But-”

“Ruby, he said he’ll be fine.” Weiss reassured. “You don’t have to worry.”

Ruby sighed and shrugged. “Alright, as long as you’re sure...” She nodded to him. “See you in a bit.”

Sage smiled calmly. “Yeah. See you.”

It didn’t take the group that long to find the new area.

The gym was pretty spacious, with workout equipment such as weight lifting machines dotted here and there. The main attraction, so to speak, was a long rack of dumbbells organised by size against the wall. At the very end of the room were three doors; two being for a set of changing rooms, and one apparently leading directly to the pool.

“Whoa!” Ruby exhaled.

“Little fucker certainly did his due diligence.” Mercury noted, inspecting one of the weight lifting machines.

Nora’s eyes were like lightbulbs. “This is PERFECT! I have everything for my morning workout routine and MORE!”

“I don’t think he made this just for your morning workout routine...” Ren chuckled.

“I agree...” Coco grimaced, holding up one of the dumbbells from the rack, as if testing it’s weight.

Weiss, realising what Coco was implying, flashed her a look. “Can we try and not think about that?”

“Alright, alright.” She put the dumbbell back, but Yatsuhashi stopped her.

“Can you at least try to put them back in the right place?” He said with a raised eyebrow. “You messed up the order.”

Coco practically rolled her eyes into the back of her head before fixing it, which made Ruby laugh a little.

Coco scowled. “What’s so funny?”

Ruby flinched back. “Eep! U-uh, nothing!”

Jaune sighed and pointed out the doors. “I have a feeling this leads to the pool. Should we check it out?”

Mercury shrugged. “There’s nothing else to see here.”

“Yeah, Mercury’s right. There isn’t much left to see.” Ren agreed.

“Okay, let’s see what’s in here.” Jaune said, pushing the entrance to the pool open as the others followed him inside.

The room was kind of what you’d expect from a school’s indoor swimming pool; a long pool divided into lanes with a deep end and a shallow end. A few benches as well as rope and floatation devices were also dotted here and there.

“Beochi certainly went all out…” Ruby noted.

“Indeed.” Jaune agreed, walking over to the near end of the pool. “Look, it even has one of those fancy pull-over covers.”

“Huh?”

Jaune picked up a nearby hook and hooked onto a handle at the far end of the pool. He pulled it over with the hook, covering the pool with some kind of roof.

“Ooooohhh…!”

“I know, right?” Jaune agreed, pushing the cover back. “He didn’t get one of those tacky netting ones, he got a full-fledged cover!”

“So what?” Coco questioned. “This is just further proof he wants us to stay here.”

“But why bother with all these renovations to the academy?” Ruby asked.

“Also, wouldn’t Ozpin have noticed?” Nora seconded. “And where is he?”

“One problem at a time, people!” Coco answered. “And I have no idea to all of those!”

“Ain’t it obvious?” Mercury said with a shrug. “This is the little fucker’s definition of a prize for completing the trial. Said it last time when we got the armoury.”

“Well, there’s gotta be more to it than that!” Ruby countered.

He raised an eyebrow. “This is Beochi we’re talking here.”

“…Good point. But Nora’s right, it would’ve been hard for him to add all these new rooms without any of the professors noticing.”

“I think the fact that none of them are here helps.”

“But wouldn’t it have taken him a long time to build this stuff? I mean, these rooms weren’t just added overnight. They were locked off, so they had to have been there for a while.”

Mercury was about to reply, but stopped.

“…Shit. You’re right.”

“Again, one problem at a time.” Coco said. “It’s been, like, a day since the last trial. We still need to figure stuff out, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Ruby agreed. “I mean, we still need time to process everything that happened and all…”

“Speaking of,” Jaune said, nodding to the door. “Your friend’s back.”

Ruby perked up. “Huh?”

Sure enough, Sage was had just arrived through the door. He was looking around and surveying the room with interest.

“…Huh.” He noted. “Beochi certainly went the whole mile.”

“Sage!” Ruby greeted with a wave.

He returned the greeting with a nod. “Hey.”

“How’s Sun doing?” Coco asked.

He sighed and shook his head. “Not well. He’s still very torn up about Blake’s death.”

Ruby’s expression fell. “Oh…”

“Well it makes sense.” Mercury said. “I mean, he knew she was the killer for a bit.”

Coco flashed him a look.

“…What? What’d I say!?”

She shook her head. “Never mind…”

“Can I talk to him?” Ruby asked.

Sage lifted his head. “Hm?”

“Sun. I want to try and talk to him.”

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“I mean, it’d help if I talk to him, right?”

“Ruby, talking about your problems isn’t a magic band-aid.” Mercury quipped with a raised eyebrow. “You literally said so this morning.”

Ruby pouted. “It doesn’t hurt to try!”

“That’s if he _wants_ to talk to you.” Sage stated bluntly. “You are aware that a lot of people like being alone after a tragic event to them, right?”

_Tragic?_ Ruby thought. _What’s that supposed to mean? Sure, him and Blake were close, but-_

“Uh, Ruby?” Coco said. “Your meeting with Sun’s gonna have to wait.”

“Huh?”

This snapped Ruby out of her thoughts long enough for her to realise that Beochi’s chime was ringing through the speakers.

“Attention, all students!” Beochi’s voice rang out. “I know you’re all having a lot of fun looking around the new facility, but I have an announcement! So come to the amphitheatre at once!”

Ruby froze. “A-an announcement!? He can’t be giving us a motive already, can he!?”

Coco grimaced. “I can’t be sure…But this is still way too early for a motive…!”

Sage’s expression hardened. “We need to go.”

“W-what!?” Ruby exclaimed. “But what about-”

“Talking to Sun can wait! We _need to go!_”

Ruby stopped, pressing her lips into a line before nodding.

“Yeah, we should go.”

Everyone eventually arrived in the amphitheatre.

Sun wasn’t there, as Ruby expected, but someone else was.

“Neptune?” She walked over to him. “You doing okay?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah I guess.” He said. “I just came to see what this is about so I could tell Sun when I get back.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of which, is he doing okay?”

He winced. “Not really…Blake’s death hit him pretty hard…”

Ruby’s face fell. “Oh…”

“He didn’t feel like he wanted to leave his room just yet, but I figured I should at least see what the fuss is about. If Beochi had to call us all here, it has to be important, right?”

“So what,” Mercury asked. “You think he already has another motive or something?”

“I dunno, seems a bit early for that.”

“Yeah, same here.” Ruby agreed.

“Well, what if it’s something _to do_ with the motive?” Jaune suggested.

“Huh?”

“I mean, not like the motive itself, but something to do with it. You see what I mean?”

“…I’m not following.”

“Hold up, I think I see what he’s saying.” Neptune said. “So like, he brought us here to tell us something _about_ the motive, but he’s not gonna actually give it to us until later. Is that it?”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah, that’s right!”

“Ohhhh,” Ruby realised. “That kinda makes sense. But then what actually IS the motive this time?”

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “…Literally none of us know.”

“…Good point.”

“If Jaune’s right,” Sage explained. “We know that it has to be something that requires him to notify us in advance of it’s reveal, at least.”

“……What?”

He sighed. “It has to warrant this meeting.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, Sage has a point.” Mercury agreed. “If it’s important enough to need all of us here, it better be fuckin’ good.”

Coco nodded, pushing her glasses up. “Yeah, it better be.”

“And it is!” Beochi chimed in as he appeared right on cue. “Hello again, students!”

“Yeah, cut the bullshit.” Mercury hissed, folding his arms. “What do you want?”

“That is no way to speak to your headmaster, you know!”

Mercury rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” Beochi continued. “I can’t help but notice one of my students has yet again failed to attend. I gave the address and everything!”

“I’ll tell him once you’re done, okay?” Neptune said.

“Very good of you! So nice to see my students working together!”

“I’m sorry, but that’s kinda hard to believe coming from the same person who wants to see us kill each other.” Fox quipped with a raised eyebrow.

“Jeez, I just wanna see you working together and killing each other! Is that really too much to ask?”

“_YES!_” Everyone said at the same time.

“Eeh, whatever...” He said with a shrug.

“Anyway,” Jaune said. “You can’t have called this meeting for no reason. This is about the motive, right?”

“Right you are, blondie!”

“So you’re giving it to us NOW!?” Nora questioned.

“No, it’s WAY too early for that! This is just something ABOUT the motive. They literally just explained it earlier!”

“You were LISTENING to that!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“Uh yeah?” He raised an eyebrow. “Duh. Gotta keep an eye on my students.”

“Uh, creepy?” Neptune quipped.

“I’d rather use ‘watchful’, but yeah.”

“Creepy. Got it.”

“Either way,” Sage interjected. “This confirms our initial suspicion that this meeting has something to do with the upcoming motive. So what is it?”

“Good question, Timelord!” Beochi chimed. “You see, like last time, this motive involves a _time limit!_”

“A...Time limit?” Ruby repeated.

“So what,” Mercury asked. “If nobody dies within a time limit something’s gonna happen?”

“Exactly!” Beochi confirmed. “And that ‘something’ is the motive!”

“You gonna tell us what that something is?” Coco asked.

“Hehehe…! Nope!”

Ruby froze. “What…!?”

“That’s right! _The only way to find out what’s gonna happen to you is if nobody dies!_”

“Well that’s easy.” Fox said with a shrug. “No-one’s gonna die, so we’ll just see what’s gonna happen.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that!” Beochi said, wagging his finger. “What I have planned for you is _reeeeeaaaally_ special~!”

“But you’re not gonna say what it is…?” Ruby questioned.

“That’s right!”

He clicked his fingers, and the motive tabs on everybody’s scrolls started flashing again.

Ruby opened hers, revealing a time limit for 24 hours had been set, with COUNTDOWN TO MOTIVE printed below it in block capitals.

“All I’m gonna say,” Beochi continued. “Is that if nobody dies in one day, something _reeeeeaaally bad_ is gonna happen to you! So you’d better kill someone before the suspense does! You only have one day, and the clock’s tick-tick-ticking!” He laughed.

“And the countdown to the motive officially staaarts…_**NOW!**_”

With that, the timer started counting down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cliched dun dun duuuun noise*  
So what does Beochi have planned, exactly?  
You're just gonna have to wait and see~  
But I'll just say this. It IS pretty hardcore.


End file.
